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The  Holy  Spirit, 


OR, 

PHILOSOPHY  OF  THE  DIVINE  OPERATION 
IN  THE  REDEMPTION  OF  MAN 


BY 

REV.  JAMES  B.  WALKER,  D.D., 

Author  of  "The  Living  Questions  of  the  Age "The  Philosophy  of  the  Plan 

of  Salvation''  Etc. 


Sixth  Edition,  Revised  and  Enlarged. 


CINCINNATI: 

WALDEN  AND  STOWE. 

NEW  YORK:  PHILLIPS  &  HUNT. 


/ 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1869,  by 
CHURCH  &  GOODMAN, 

In  the  Clerk’s  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  United  States  for  the 
Northern  District  of  Illinois. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1874,  by 
S.  C.  GRIGGS  &  CO., 

In  the  office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress,  at  Washington. 


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TO  THOSE  WHO  BELIEVE  THAT  FORMS  AND  DISSERTATIONS 
CONCERNING  THE  GOSPEL,— 

RATHER  THAN  FAITH  AND  THE  POWER  AND  SPIRIT  OF  THE  TRUTH,  IS  PREVALENT 
IN  MANY  CHURCHES  OF  OUR  TIMES, — 

THESE  PAGES  ARE  RESPECTFULLY  DEDICATED  BY 


The  Author. 


INTRODUCTION. 


With  this  closing  treatise,  the  series  of  books  on 

the  Divine  wisdom,  manifested  in  the  processes  of 

Creation  and  Redemption,  is  complete.  This  last 

book  we  think  the  most  important  of  all ;  and  in 

connection  with  the  preceding  volumes,  we  hope 

enough  has  been  done  to  establish  the  conviction  in 

the  minds  of  thoughtful  readers,  that  the  Work  of 

Creation  and  Redemption  is  a  unity  —  one  chain  of 
« 

Creative  Progress,  begun  when  “  The  Spirit  of  God 
brooded  upon  the  face  of  the  waters,”  creating  form¬ 
ative  tendencies  in  material  things,  and  begetting  the 
first  life- germs  in  the  primal  universal  sea,  —  com¬ 
pleted  when  humanity  was  crowned  by  the  birth  of 
Christ,  and  the  Divine  image  was  begotten  again  in 
believing  souls. 

It  has  been  pleasant  for  the  author  to  follow  the 
processes  of  the  Divine  thought,  as  they  have  man- 


6 


INTRODUCTION . 


ifested  themselves  in  Nature  and  Revelation ;  and  to 
seek  in  the  progressive  development  of  the  whole 
sublime  scheme,  a  true  apprehension  of  the  plan  and 
purpose  of  the  Creator. 

In  this  last  book  we  endeavor  to  give  an  exposi¬ 
tion  of  the  ultimate  form  and  force  of  the  Doctrine 
of  the  Holy  Spirit.  This  doctrine  is  received  in 
some  sense  by  all  Christian  sects ;  yet  by  many,  it 
is  very  apparent  that  the  truth  is  held  in  form 
rather  than  in  faith ;  while  none  of  us  have  had  a 
sufficiently  clear  and  influential  conviction  of  the 
dependence  of  man  on  the  vital  operation  of  the 
Spirit  of  God. 

The  Friends  or  Quakers  have,  perhaps,  had  the 
most  scriptural  apprehension  of  the  doctrine  in  its 
cardinal  principles.  But  even  with  them  sectarian 
peculiarities  have  marred  the  manifestation  of  the 
Divine  life.  More  good  would  have  been  done,  if 
reform  without  needless  peculiarities  had  character-' 
ized  the  life  and  teaching  of  the  Friends  and  other 
reformers  of  the  martyr  -  period  in  England.  If,  in¬ 
stead  of  discarding  music,  and  other  social  recreations 
and  enjoyments,  the  early  reformers  had  aimed  to 
reduce  them  to  happy  and  beneficent  uses,  then  the 


INTRODUCTION. 


7 


doctrine  which  they  made  prominent,  that  the  influ¬ 
ence  of  the  Spirit  is  essential  to  all  true  worship, 
would  have  been  more  generally  accepted  by  sincere 
Christians,  and  there  would  have  been  less  of  fal¬ 
lacy  to  restrain  the  Divine  operation,  as  the  central 
power  in  the  kingdom  of  God. 

In  this  treatise  we  have  endeavored  to  set  forth 
the  rational  and  scriptural  exposition  of  inspired 
teaching  concerning  the  Comforter,  and  to  exhibit  the 
place  of  the  Divine  Spirit  in  the  Godhead,  and  in 
the  work  of  Gospel  progress. 

We  do  not  assume  to  have  presented  the  subject 
in  such  form  that  other  minds  may  not  add  or  sub¬ 
tract  from  the  matters  herein  stated.  We  have  done 
what  God  enabled  us  to  do :  and,  grateful  for  the 
knowledge  that  our  preceding  books  have  been  the 
means  of  good  to  many  persons  in  many  lands,  we 
here  close  our  labors  on  the  whole  subject,  with 
the  hope  that  this  volume  may  add  strength  and 
completeness  to  the  impression  of  the  others,  and 
that  each  reader  may  gain  a  clearer  apprehension  of 
the  Divine  character  and  the  Divine  operation. 


i 


TO  THE  READER. 


The  first  portion  of  the  following  treatise  may 
seem  to  some  metaphysical  rather  than  scriptural. 
This  impression  will  pass  away  as  the  reader  ad¬ 
vances.  The  views  presented  are  designed  to  estab¬ 
lish  the  doctrine  of  the  Father,  Son  and  Spirit  on 
a  rational  and  scriptural  basis.  While  they  exhibit 
the  subject  in  a  different  light,  in  some  respects, 
from  that  in  which  many  have  been  accustomed  to 

view  it,  the  scriptural  integrity  of  the  doctrine  is 

* 

maintained, —  and  maintained,  we  think,  in  such  form 
that  the  reason  does  not  reluctate  against  it,  as  it 
does  against  the  phraseology  in  which  the  doctrine 
of  the  Trinity  has  sometimes  been  expressed  in  the 
formulas  of  the  churches. 

The  treatise  presents,  we  are  sure,  a  true  exposi¬ 
tion  of  this  doctrine ;  and  especially  of  the  Work  of 
the  Spirit  in  the  process  of  sanctification.  We  offer 


10 


TO  THE  READER . 


it  as  a  contribution  designed  to  promote  intelligent 
faith,  and  unity  of  faith  among  the  various  denom¬ 
inations  of  believing  people.  We  do  not  hope  that 
the  views  here  presented  will  be  at  once  recognized 
by  every  reader  as  the  true  exposition  of  the  doc¬ 
trine  of  the  Spirit;  but  after  mature  discussion  of 
the  principles  herein  propounded,  we  have  no  doubt 
that  these  pages  will  aid  in  accomplishing  the  end 
for  which  they  have  been  written  —  to  glorify  the 
true  God,  manifested  in  Christ,  and  revealed  through 
Christ,  by  the  Holy  Spirit. 

In  judging  of  the  views  upon  which  he  is  about 
to  enter,  the  reader  is  solicitously  desired  to  refer 
the  adjudication  of  any  doubt  that  may  arise  in  his 
mind  to  the  arbitrament  of  the  Word  of  God,  and 
to  “  search  the  scriptures  whether  these  things  be 
so.’ 


CONTENTS. 


♦* 


CHAPTER  I. 

THE  HOLY  SPIRIT  IN  THE  OLD  TESTAMENT. 

SECT.  PAGE 

1.  —  The  mystery  of  life  -  -  -  -  17 

2.  —  The  doctrine  of  the  Spirit,  a  peculiarity  of  the  Bible  -  18 

3.  —  The  doctrine  as  developed  in  the  Mosaic  dispensation  20 

CHAPTER  II. 

THE  RELATIVE  PLACE  OF  THE  SPIRIT  AND  THE  WORD  IN  THE 
ECONOMY  OF  THE  DIVINE  MIND. 

4.  —  All  mind  generically  the  same  -  -  -  23 

5.  —  Self  consciousness  of  the  mental  constitution  -  -  26 

6.  —  The  Scripture  view  of  the  Logos,  or  Son  of  the  Divine 

mind  -  -  -  -  -  -  -30 

7.  —  Views  of  some  of  the  best  Christian  thinkers  in  har¬ 

mony  with  this  exposition  -  -  -  32 

8.  —  Mind  manifested  only  by  its  Logos,  or  out  -  birth  -  35 


2 


CONTENTS. 


SECT.  PAGE 

9.  —  God  becomes  imminently  and  effectively  personal  only 

in  Christ  -  -  -  -  -  -  37 

10.  —  The  Holy  Spirit  uses  the  personality  of  Christ  in  the 

work  of  Redemption  -  -  -  -  39 

CHAPTER  III. 

THE  HOL*’  SPIRIT  IN  THE  PERSONALITY  OF  CHRIST. 

11.  —  The  humanity  of  Christ  was  by  the  Holy  Spirit  -  41 

12.  —  The  advent  of  the  Spirit  upon  Christ  at  His  Baptism, 

and  its  abiding  unity  with  His  humanity  -  42 

13.  —  The  Holy  Spirit,  abiding  in  Christ,  leads  Him  into  and 

through  the  temptation  -  -  -  44 

14.  —  The  ministry  of  Christ,  and  the  manifestation  of  God 

in  Christ  by  the  Holy  Spirit  -  -  -  45 

15.  —  The  sacrifice  and  resurrection  of  Christ  by  the  Holy 

Spirit  -  -  -  -  -  -  -47 

CHAPTER  IV. 

THE  ENDOWMENT  AND  SUPERVISION  OF  THE  APOSTLES  BY  THE 

HOLY  SPIRIT. 

16.  — The  disciples  in  the  Old  Testament  state,  until  after 

the  outpouring  of  the  Spirit  -  -  -  51 

17.  —  Peter’s  precipitancy  and  error  in  acting  before  the  time  53 

18.  —  Christ’s  choice  of  the  apostles  -  -  -  -  55 


CONTENTS. 


13 


SECT.  PAGE 

19.  —  Promise  of  Christ’s  special  presence  by  the  Spirit,  in 

answer  to  their  supplication  -  -  -  56 

20.  —  All  essential  truth  spoken  by  Christ  to  be  preserved  by 

the  suggestion  of  the  Spirit  -  -  -  58 

21.  —  The  spiritual  sense  promised  to  the  apostles  -  -  59 

22.  —  Further  exposition  of  the  promise  that  greater  light  and 

power  would  be  given  by  the  Spirit  after  Christ’s 
ascension  -  -  -  -  -  62 

23.  —  The  endowment  of  the  apostles  with  special  powers 

and  prerogatives  -  -  -  -  -67 

24.  —  The  apostles  affirm  their  consciousness  of  special  en¬ 

dowment  -  -  -  -  -  7° 

25.  —  The  Providence  of  God  working  together  with  the 

Spirit  in  furthering  the  gospel  by  the  instrumental¬ 
ity  of  the  apostles  -  -  -  -  72 

CHAPTER  V. 

THE  UNION  OF  THE  WORD  AND  SPIRIT  IN  THE  PROCESS  OF 

SANCTIFICATION. 

S’ 

26.  —  Does  an  increase  of  light  imply  an  increase  of  spiritual 

power  ?  ______  80 

27.  —  Of  the  Living  Word  as  a  rule  of  duty  -  -  -  81 

28. —  Necessity  in  reason  for  a  perfect  rule  of  human  duty  83 

29.  —  A  perfect  rule  of  life  the  only  principle  of  moral  pro¬ 

gress  -  -  -  -  -  -  -86 

30.  —  The  truth  being  given  in  the  life  and  precept  of 

Christ,  the  second  necessary  thing  is  the  work  of 
the  Spirit  -  -  -  -  -  -  89 


14  CONTENTS. 

SECT.  PAGE 

31.  —  Rationale  of  the  Spirit’s  operation  in  connection  with 

the  truth  -  -  -  -  -  -  91 

32.  —  The  preceding  views  illustrated  by  experience  -  -  94 

33.  —  The  sum  of  preceding  deductions  -  -  -  95 

34.  —  The  union  of  the  Word  and  Spirit  necessary  in  the 

process  of  conviction  and  sanctification  -  97 

35.  —  The  preceding  views  accord  with  the  relations  of  the 

Word  and  Spirit,  as  they  exist  in  both  the  finite 
and  the  Infinite  mind  -  -  -  -  -  99 

36.  —  The  preceding  views  confirmed  by  the  teaching  of  the 

Scriptures  -  -  100 

CHAPTER  VI. 

THE  WORK  OF  CHRIST  BY  THE  DIVINE  SPIRIT  IN  THE  MINDS  OF 

BELIEVERS. 

37.  —  The  two  fold  office-work  of  the  Spirit  -  105 

38.  —  The  experimental  import  of  the  statement  that  the 

Spirit  shall  not  speak  of  Himself  -  108 

39.  —  By  exhibiting  Christ  the  Spirit  likewise  exhibits  the 

Father  to  the  soul  -  -  -  -  .  110 

40.  —  The  Spirit  witnesses  to  the  truth  of  Divine  Revelation  112 

41.  —  The  nature  of  the  Spirit’s  witness  -  -  -  116 

42.  —  The  influence  of  the  Spirit  upon  the  faculties  of  the 

mind  separately  considered  -  -  -  -  118 

43.  —  The  duty  of  prayer  annexed  to  the  doctrine  of  the 

Spirit  -------  124 


CONTENTS. 


15 


SECT.  PAGE 

44.  —  The  conditions  upon  which  the  influence  of  the  Holy 

Spirit  is  granted  -  -  -  -  -125 

45-  —  Availing  prayer  is  offered  to  God  in  the  name  of  Christ  13 1 

46.  —  The  sum  of  preceding  sections  -  133 


CHAPTER  VII. 

THE  WORK  OF  THE  HOLY  SPIRIT  WITH  THE  MINDS  OF  THE 

IMPENITENT. 

47.  —  Specific  work  of  the  Spirit  in  impenitent  minds  -  138 

48.  —  The  promised  convictions  of  the  Spirit  experienced  by 

those  who  hear  the  gospel  under  spiritual  impression  145 

49.  —  The  awakening  of  the  lost  sinner,  and  his  return  to 

God,  as  illustrated  by  the  Lord  Jesus  -  -  149 

50.  —  The  son’s  life  at  home  -----  152 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

SUPPLEMENTARY. 

51.  —  The  promise  of  the  Holy  Spirit  in  answer  to  prayer 

is  in  harmony  with  the  method  of  the  gospel,  that 
grace  is  bestowed  upon  one  in  order  that  benefit 
may  be  conferred  upon  others  -  -  157 

52.  —  The  subjects  of  prayer  should  be  specifically  in  view 

of  the  mind  of  the  suppliant,  when  he  can  not  per¬ 
sonally  communicate  with  them  -  162 


16 


CONTENTS. 


SECT.  PAGE 

53.  —  The  miraculous  gifts  of  the  Holy  Spirit  were  not  the 

product  of  the  indwelling  Spirit,  in  the  ordinary 
sense  -------  165 

54.  —  “  The  prayer  of  faith  shall  save  the  sick,  *  *  *  and  if 

he  have  committed  sins  they  shall  be  forgiven”  -  170 

55.  —  Was  the  spiritual  endowment  imparted  by  laying  on  of 

hands  to  be  transient  or  permanent  in  the  churches  ?  174 

56.  —  Recondite  laws  of  human  nature  connect  themselves 

with  this  subject  -  -  -  -  -  178 

Appendix  -------  189 


1 


DOCTRINE  OF  THE  HOLY  SPIRIT. 


CHAPTER  I. 

THE  HOLY  SPIRIT  IN  THE  OLD  TESTAMENT. 

§  1. —  The  mystery  of  life. 

There  is  mystery  connected  with  spiritual 
existence  which  the  human  mind  cannot  fathom. 
This  is  not  only  true  of  spiritual  life,  but  it  is 
true  of  all  life  in  all  its  manifestations,  and  in 
all  the  kingdoms  of  nature.  No  finite  mind  can 
ever  know  where  life  begins,  or  how  the  life- 
germ  assimilates  to  itself  a  material  body.  We 
may  speculate  about  questions  of  this  character 
—  we  may  examine  the  lowest  manifestation  of 
life  as  it  connects  itself  with  the  lowest  organ¬ 
ized  being  —  still  the  nature  of  life,  and  the  man¬ 
ner  of  its  union  with  materiality,  no  one  may 


2 


17 


18 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF 


know.  To  know  where  the  inertia  of  matter 
ends  and  the  motion  of  life  begins  is,  and  will 
be  for  ever,  beyond  the  limit  prescribed  to  the 
human  intellect. 

Knowing,  then,  nothing  of  the  nature  of  life, 
and  judging  of  its  attributes  only  by  its  mani¬ 
festations,  we  would  approach  with  becoming  rev¬ 
erence  the  inquiry  concerning  the  attributes  and 
manifestations  of  the  Spirit  of  God.  A  conscious¬ 
ness  of  the  limitation  of  the  human  understanding 
should  incline  the  reason  to  humility,  and  to 
examine  Revelation  with  gratitude,  hoping  that 
she  may  there  find  aid  to  discern  and  appreciate 
the  doctrine  of  the  Divine  life.  It  is  an  import¬ 
ant  fact,  inviting  to  such  examination,  that  when 
reason  has  been  aided  by  revelation  to  perceive 
a  truth,  the  accordance  of  that  truth  with  her 
own  most  profound  deductions  is,  to  her,  a  clear 
testimony,  not  only  of  its  validity,  but  likewise 
of  the  value  of  inspired  instruction. 


§  2. —  The  doctrine  of  the  Spirit ,  a  peculiarity  of 

the  Bible. 

The  doctrine  of  the  Holy  Spirit  is  one  of  the 
distinguishing  peculiarities  of  the  Hebrew  and 


THE  HOL  Y  SPIRIT. 


19 


Christian  Scriptures.  The  view  given  in  the 
Bible  of  the  creative  energies  of  the  Spirit  of 
God,  and  of  its  place  in  the  scheme  of  redemp¬ 
tion,  is  diverse  from  any  other  form  of  thought 
known  to  the  human  mind.  No  religious  sys¬ 
tem,  ancient  or  modern,  gives  a  view  in  any 
wise  similar  to  this  doctrine,  as  revealed  in  the 
Scriptures.  We  do  not  say  that  a  man,  by  his 
spirit,  did  such  an  act,  or  that  a  man’s  spirit 
did  it.  Nor  have  pagan  nations  ever  talked  thus 
of  their  gods.*  The  peculiarity  of  the  phrase¬ 
ology,  and  the  consistency  of  its  development 
throughout  the  whole  scheme  of  revelation,  will 
be,  to  thoughtful  minds,  a  strong  testimony  for 
divine  guidance  in  the  doctrinal  teachings  of 
Moses  and  of  Christ. 

In  the  opening  of  the  eldest  Scripture,  the 
Holy  Spirit  is  spoken  of  personally.  (We  do 
not  say  as  a  person ;  but  personally.')  The  pos¬ 
sessive  form  of  expression  in  regard  to  the  Father 
and  the  Spirit  is  used;  and  the  life-giving  attri¬ 
bute  of  the  Spirit  is  introduced  with  the  intro¬ 
duction  of  life.  “  The  Spirit  of  God  brooded 

*  The  form  of  the  idea,  and  the  form  of  phrase,  used  by  Plato, 
and  others  in  speaking  of  the  “  Soul  of  the  world,  ”  are  quite 
diverse. 


20 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF 


upon  the  face  of  the  waters,”  begetting  forma-  * 
tive  tendencies  in  things,  and  initiating  life-germs 
by  which  the  first  organic  forms  were  produced 
in  the  primseval  sea.*  Thenceforward,  through 
all  the  dispensations,  the  idea  of  the  life-giving 
Spirit  of  God  is  always  recognized. 

§  3. —  The  doctrine  further  developed  in  the  Mosaic 

dispensation. 

Under  the  Patriarchal  dispensation,  when  God 
was  known  only  as  Creator,  the  Spirit  is  spoken 
of  only  in  its  initial,  life-giving  energy.  Under 
the  dispensation  of  Moses,  an  advanced  develop¬ 
ment  of  the  doctrine  may  be  recognized.  The 
agency  of  the  Spirit  is  here  more  especially 
connected  with  the  moral  life  of  men,  and  its 
attributes  are  revealed  to  the  human  conscious¬ 
ness,  as  beneficially  related  to  man’s  weakness 
and  his  sin. 

In  the  middle  and  later  periods  of  the  Old 
Testament  Church,  the  faith  and  experience  of 
devout  minds,  in  regard  to  the  Holy  Spirit,  ap¬ 
proximates  more  nearly  to  what  is  known  and 
taught  under  the  new  and  perfect  dispensation. 
The  Divine  presence  and  the  Divine  Spirit  are 

*  See  Appendix  A — Moses  and  Geology. 


THE  HOL  Y  SPIRIT. 


21 


'  spoken  of  interchangeably.*  The  holiness  of  the 
Spirit,  its  renewing  and  purifying  influence,  the 
impartations  of  joy,  strength  and  courage  derived 
from  its  presence  in  the  soul,  were  clearly  ap¬ 
preciated  by  the  Psalmists.  The  identity  of  a 
believer’s  experience  under  both  dispensations  is 
striking  and  instructive.  When  David  had  grossly 
sinned,  so  that  pardon  seemed  almost  impossible, 
he  prays  (Psa.  li).  “  Create  in  me  a  clean  heart, 
O  God ;  and  renew  a  right  spirit  within  me. 
Cast  me  not  away  from  thy  presence ;  and  take 
not  thy  Holy  Spirit  from  me.  Restore  unto  me 
the  joy  of  thy  salvation ;  and  uphold  me  with 
thy  free  Spirit.  Then  will  I  teach  transgressors 
thy  ways;  and  sinners  shall  be  converted  unto 
thee.”  The  consciousness  of  every  believer,  pen¬ 
itent  for  some  past  offence,  is  almost  a  repro¬ 
duction  of  the  state  of  mind  deliniated  in  these 
passages.  ^ 

The  prophets  of  the  old  dispensation  were 
conscious  of  the  influence  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  and 
that  all  advance  in  the  kingdom  of  God  was 
gained  by  its  operation.  Isa.  lxi,  1  — “  The  Spirit 
of  the  Lord  God  is  upon  me ;  because  the  Lord 
hath  anointed  me  to  preach  good  tidings  unto 

*  Psalm  cxxxix,  7.  “  Whither  shall  I  go  from  thy  Spirit ;  or 

whither  shall  I  flee  from  thy  presence  ?  ” 


22 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF 


the  meek ;  he  hath  sent  me  to  bind  up  the 
broken-hearted,  to  proclaim  liberty  to  the  cap¬ 
tives,  and  the  opening  of  the  prison  to  those  in 
bonds.”  In  their  apprehension,  moral  progress 
came  not  by  human  devices,  nor  by  merely  hu¬ 
man  appliances;  Zech.  iv,  6  —  “Not  by  might, 
nor  by  power,  but  by  my  Spirit,  saith  the  Lord.” 

Thus  the  germ-thoughts  of  the  doctrine  of  the 
Spirit  lie  embedded  in  the  Old  Testament.  A 
life-giving  agent  under  the  dispensation  of  Crea¬ 
tion,  or  the  Patriarchal  —  a  renewing  and  puri¬ 
fying  power  under  the  legal  or  Mosaic  dispen¬ 
sation.  But  still,  in  both,  whether  under  the 
dispensation  of  creation,  or  the  more  advanced 
dispensation  of  law,  there  is  found  the  peculiar 
personal  phraseology  which  distinguishes  the  doc¬ 
trine  throughout  the  whole  Scriptures. 

As  light  increases  throughout  the  three  dispen¬ 
sations,  this  germ -truth  is  further  developed  — 
from  the  blade  (the  sprout)  into  the  ear,  and, 
under  the  New  Testament,  to  the  full  corn  in 
the  ear.  Yet  in  all,  and  through  all,  there  is 
the  same  Spirit  of  God,  which  vivified  the  first 
organic  germs,  energizing  in  all  modifications  of 
life,  and  finally  renewing,  purifying,  and  guiding 
those  who  by  faith  became  obedient  to  Christ, 
as  “  God  manifest  in  the  flesh.” 


THE  HOL  V  SPIRIT. 


23 


CHAPTER  II> 

THE  RELATIVE  PLACE  OF  THE  SPIRIT  AND  THE 

WORD  IN  THE  ECONOMY  OF  THE  DIVINE  MIND. 

Our  views  in  regard  to  the  work  of  the  Divine 
Spirit  will  become  more  clear  and  discriminating 
if  we  apprehend,  in  the  outset,  as  fully  as  we 
may,  the  first  truths  which  underlie  our  subject, 
both  in  the  economy  of  mind  and  in  the  re- 
vealments  of  the  Scriptures. 

§  4:. —  All  mind  generically  the  same. 

All  mind,  finite  or  infinite,  must  be  the  same 
in  its  elementary  characteristics,  so  far  as  known 
to  us.*  Reason,  conscience,  will,  in  all  beings, 
are  homogeneous  —  the  same  in  their  nature, 
whether  finite  and  fallible,  or  infinite  and  per- 

*  We  do  not  discuss  the  question  whether  God  may  not  have 
attributes  which  have  no  finite  analogues  in  the  human  soul. 
The  inquiry  would  be  fruitless,  and  our  argument  does  not 
require  it. 


24 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF 


feet.  Reason,  so  far  as  she  sees,  accorus  with 
the  nature  of  things  physical  and  moral.  Her 
axioms  are  universal.  We  know  that  two  and 
two  must  be  four  with  God,  as  they  are  with 
men,  because  the  physical  universe  is  constructed 
upon  the  principle  of  mathematical  ^proportion. 
Right  and  wrong  enter  into  moral  relations  as 
mathematical  proportion  enters  into  physical  re¬ 
lations.  There  can  be  no  response  in  the  human 
soul  to  the  moral  administration  of  God,  unless 
the  primary  moral  convictions  of  man  coincide 
with  conscience  or  moral  judgment  in  the  Divine 
mind.  If  moral  truth  be  not  the  same,  when  dis¬ 
covered,  to  all  moral  beings,  then  the  moral  uni¬ 
verse  is  founded  upon  the  principle  of  discord. 
Benevolence,  or  conformity  to  the  law  of  love, 
must  be  the  same  in  its  nature  in  God  and  in 
man,  else  man  in  becoming  benevolent,  by  faith 
in  Christ,  would  not  come  into  conformity  with 
the  character  of  God.  Knowledge  of  the  Divine 
mind,  therefore,  so  far  as  the  Infinite  mind  can  he 
comprehended  hy  the  finite ,  must  be  obtained  through 
the  analogy  existing  between  the  human  and  the 
Divine  minds,  and  the  Divine  love  must  be  appre¬ 
hended  through  the  human  susceptibility.  Man 
can  not  obey  a  law  unless  he  understands  it. 


THE  HOL  Y  SPIRIT. 


25 


He  can  not  know  what  love  is  unless  he  feels 
it.  He  can  have  no  sense  of  the  moral  duty 
due  to  God,  unless  the  obligation  of  right  and 
wrong  is  appreciated*  alike  by  the  Divine  and 
the  human  mind. 

To  make  statements  concern  ng  the  Divine 
mind  or  the  Divine  character  that  can  not  be 
appropriated  in  consciousness,  nor  appreciated  by 
the  reason,  is  to  talk  in  words  that  can  have 
no  more  import  to  the  hearer  than  a  description 
of  colors  to  a  man  born  blind.  If  it  be  not 
irreverent,  therefore,  we  may  say,  that  if  God 
would  create  a  .  being  to  know  and  appreciate 
His  character,  it  would,  from  the  nature  of  things, 
be  necessary  that  that  being  should  be  created 
with  rational  and  moral  powers,  the  same  in  kind 
as  those  which  constitute  the  Divine  perfections. 
Lower,  it  may  be,  than  the  angels — limited  in 
some  directions,  immature  in  others,  and  imper¬ 
fect  in  all ;  yet  still  a  creature  created  in  the 

\ 

*  Just  as  the  movements  of  the  physical  universe  furnish  an 
exhibition  of  phenomena  to  which  the  human  mind  may  apply 
its  perception  of  proportion,  and  thus  progressively  deduce  the 
laws  of  nature ;  so  the  work  of  God  in  nature  and  revelation 
being  given,  the  human  mind  can  deduce  from  the  first  the  natural 
attributes,  and  from  the  second,  the  moral  character,  of  God. 


26 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF 


moral  image  of  God  alone  can  know  and  glorify 
Him.* 

We  may  assume  the  deduction,  then,  as  a  pre¬ 
mise,  that  an  insight  into  the  capacities  and  fac¬ 
ulties  of  the  human  mind  will  teach  us  some¬ 
thing  of  the  economy  of  the  Godhead.  And  if 
the  views  thus  educed  are  sanctioned  by  a  clear 
exposition  of  the  Scriptures,  we  shall  be  sure 
that  we  have  gained  knowledge  that  will  aid  us 
to  become  acquainted  with  God,  and  to  be  at 
peace  with  Him. 


§  5. —  Self-consciousness  of  the  mental  constitution. 

That  mind  has,  in  some  sense,  a  tri-partite  con 
stitution,  is,  to  self-knowing  men,  beyond  ques¬ 
tion.!  Few  are  able  to  introvert  the  eye,  and 
scan  with  clear-seeing  discrimination  what  is  re- 

*  See  Appendix  B  —  Anthropology. 

f  Tri-partite,  —  if  we  adopt  the  prevalent  philosophy  of  an 
“  unknowable”  substance  or  essence  in  which  personality  and 
attribute  inhere.  If  we  suppose  the  “  I  ”  to  be  personality  or 
substance,  the  view  given  in  the  text  is  somewhat  modified,  but 
the  phraseology  is  still  valid.  Conscience  and  love  are  states  of 
the  “  I.”  Thought  is  a  generation  or  outbirth  of  the  “  I.” 
Will  is  the  act  of  the  “  I.”  The  character  of  thought  and  will 
accords  with  the  state  of  the  Ego. 


THE  HOL  Y  SPIRIT. 


27 


vealed  in  their  own  consciousness ;  and  mental 
science  has  been  so  perplexed  by  the  treatises 
of  scholars  to  whom  God  has  given  no  original 
insight,  that  knowledge  of  mind  has  been  ob¬ 
scured  and  hindered,  rather  than  cleared  and  fur¬ 
thered,  by  a  multitude  of  well-meaning  writers. 
Holding  all  these  in  abeyance,  we  will  look  at 
this  subject  in  common  phraseology  and  in  scrip¬ 
tural  definitions :  assuming  as  sufficient  for  our 
exposition  the  common  view  that  there  is  a  sub¬ 
stratum  or  substance  of  mind  known  to  us  only 
by  its  manifestations.  We  shall  gain  the  assent 
of  the  thoughtful  when  we  say,  that  in  this  un¬ 
knowable  substance  of  mind  there  are  two  things 
which  stand  out  clearly  in  the  field  of  conscious¬ 
ness —  diverse  in  one  sense  and  indivisible  in  an¬ 
other,  yet  both  inhering  in  the  Father-substance 
of  the  soul.  These  two  hypostates,  personalities, 
or  manifestations  (call  them  what  you  will)  are 
spirit  and  thought.  There  is  something  in  the 
mind  apart  from  thought  which  is  conscious  of 
producing  thought ;  which  sees  and  judges  of  the 
character  and  fitness  of  the  thought  produced ; 
which  modifies,  arranges,  and  uses  thought  (or 
the  word)  to  effect  its  purposes.  It  is  not  any 
of  the  laws  of  mind ;  it  is  more  than  a  faculty 


28 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF 


of  mind.  It  is  something  that  perceives  thought, 
feeling,  and  faculty,  in  consciousness,  as  features 
and  actions  are  seen  in  a  glass.  If  we  may  not 
call  it  the  substance  of  mind,  we  must  regard 
it  as  a  knowing  entity,  or  personality,  a  thought- 
producing  and  thought-using  agent.  Different  in 
one  sense  from  the  conceived  logos,  or  word,  as 
the  agent  is  from  the  object — standing  in  rela¬ 
tion  to  thought  as  the  observer  to  the  observed 
—  sometimes  as  the  agent  to  the  instrument. 

Now  this  entity,  or  44  /”  of  the  mind,  is  desig¬ 
nated  distinctly  by  the  word  44  spirit  ”  in  the  Scrip¬ 
tures;  and  the  testimony  of  consciousness ,  concern¬ 
ing  the  relations  of  spirit  and  word  in  the  human 
mind,  is  set  forth  as  true  both  of  the  human  and 
the  Divine  mind.  The  place  of  the  knowing  spirit 
and  the  known  word  is  thus  stated  by  the  apostle 
(1  Cor.  ii,  10),  44  The  spirit  searclieth  all  things, 
yea,  the  deep  things  of  God.  For  what  man 
knoweth  the  things  of  a  man,  save  the  spirit  of 
man  which  is  in  him  ?  even  so  the  things  of 
God  knoweth  no  man,  but  the  Spirit  of  God.” 

But  while  consciousness  and  the  Scriptures  give 
us  this  ultimate  analysis,  all  know  that  the  in¬ 
spired  writers  do  not  often  speak  analytically  in 
regard  to  the  place  of  the  Spirit  and  Word  in 


THE  HOL  Y  SPIRIT. 


29 


the  Divine  mind.  They  speak  of  the  Father, 
Son,  and  Spirit  interchangeably,  giving  Divine  at¬ 
tributes  to  each  of  them :  and  in  the  baptismal 
formula,  the  one  name  contains  the  three  per¬ 
sonalities,  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Ghost.  It 
should  be  observed,  also,  that  the  Scriptures  not 
only  speak  of  the  Word  and  Spirit  interchange¬ 
ably,  but  the  Spirit  in  its  efficient  qualities  is 
spoken  of  sometimes  as  the  Spirit  of  the  Father, 
and  at  other  times  as  the  Spirit  of  the  Son.* 

Accepting  then  the  testimony  of  consciousness 
and  the  teaching  of  the  Scriptures,  as  to  the 
personality  of  the  Spirit  and  the  Word,  and  their 
place  in  the  economy  of  mind ;  and  accepting  the 
same  authority  for  deriving  a  knowledge  of  the 
Infinite  by  analogies  drawn  from  the  human 
mind,  we  are  prepared  to  inquire  further  con¬ 
cerning  the  relations  of  the  Spirit  and  the  Word 
to  each  other  and  their  related  place  and  power 
in  the  economy  of  redemption 

*  Isa.  Ixi,  i, —  “The  Spirit  of  Jehovah  is  upon  me;  he  hath 
anointed  me  to  preach  glad  tidings  unto  the  meek,”  etc,  I  Pet. 
i,  ii,  —  “The  prophets  searched  what,  or  what  manner  of  time, 
the  Spirit  of  Christ  which  was  in  them  did  signify,”  etc.  Gal. 
iv,  6,  —  “God  hath  sent  forth  the  Spirit  of  his  Son  into  our 
hearts,  ”  etc. 

* 


30 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF 


§  6. —  Tlte  Scripture  view  of  the  Logos,  or  Son  of 

the  Divine  mind. 

The  Evangelist  John  gives  the  lineage  of  the 
Son  of  God,  as  Matthew  does  that  of  the  Son 
of  Man.  In  Scripture  illustration,  the  Logos,  or 
conceived  Word,  is  born  of  the  Divine  mind,  as 
light  is  born  of  the  sun.  Heb.  i,  2,  3, — “  God 
hath  spoken  to  us  in  these  last  days  by  his  Son, 
who  is  the  out-shining  of  his  Father’s  glory,  and 
the  real  expression  of  his  nature  or  person.” 
As  we  know  of  the  existence  and  nature  of  the 
sun  only  through  the  medium  of  its  light,  so  we 
can  know  the  moral  character  of  God  only  by 
the  Mediator,  Christ  Jesus.  This  analogy  is  ex¬ 
pressly  warranted  in  2  Cor.  iv,  6, — “  God,  who 
commanded  the  light  to  shine  out  of  darkness, 
hath  shined  in  our  hearts,  to  give  us  the  light 
of  the  knowledge  of  the  glory  of  God  in  the  face 
of  Jesus  Christ.”*  The  Evangelist  John  gives 
the  fact  divested  of  its  figurative  form.  “  In 
the  beginning  was  the  Word,  and  the  Word  was 


*  Those  who  have  read  the  leading  theological  writers  of  the 

past  and  present  centuries,  may  have  noticed  that,  for  the  most 

part,  they  are  so  constrained  by  their  theological  systems,  that 

they  fear  to  use  the  inspired  analogies  common  to  the  apostles 

% 

and  the  earliest  fathers,  on  this  subject. 


THE  HOL  Y  SPIRIT. 


31 


with  God,  and  the  Word  was  God.  The  same 
was  in  the  beginning  with  God.  All  things  were 
made  by  him ;  and  without  him  was  not  any 
thing  made  that  was  made.  In  him  was  life ; 
and  the  life  was  the  light  of  men.”  “  The  Word 
was  made  flesh,  and  dwelt  among  us.” 

And  it  is  only  by  this  manifestation  in  the 
person  of  His  Son  that  God  is  known  to  men. 
“  No  man  hath  seen  God  at  any  time ;  the  only 
begotten  Son,  which  is  in  the  bosom  of  the 
Father,  he  hath  declared  him.”  And  in  Matt, 
xi,  27,  “All  things  are  delivered  unto  me  of  my 
Father :  and  no  man  knoweth  the  Son,  but  the 
Father ;  neither  knoweth  any  man  the  Father, 
save  the  Son,  and  he  to  whomsoever  the  Son 
will  reveal  him.”  That  is,  the  Father  does  not 
reveal  the  Son,  but  the  Son  reveals  the  Father ; 
and  no  man  knows  the  Father  but  by  revelation 
through  the  Son. 

The  conceived  Word  is  as  old  as  the  Divine 
-mind  —  “He  was  in  the  beginning  with  God.” 
(The  eternally  begotten  Son  of  orthodox  theol¬ 
ogy.)  But  the  revealed  or  manifested  Word,  in 
His  relations  to  man,  is  no  older  than  the  time 
when  the  Divine  mind  was  manifested  by  its 
Logos  in  creation  ;  subsequently,  in  the  guidance 


32 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF 


and  culture  of  the  Jewish  church,*  and  finally 
and  perfectly  by  the  incarnation  in  “  the  Medi¬ 
ator,  the  man  Christ  Jesus.” 

% 

§  7. —  Views  of  some  of  the  best  Christian  thinkers 
in  harmony  with  this  exposition. 

It  is  difficult  to  separate  selfishness  from  sys¬ 
tem  and  forms.  The  man  who  devises  the  sys¬ 
tem,  and  the  man  who  adopts  it  as  his  system, 
have  both  a  personal  feeling  "and  identification 
with  it ;  hence  they  will  press  their  peculiarities 
until  the  truth  is  restrained  and  constrained  by 
their  dogmatic  formularies.  It  often,  therefore, 
comes  to  pass  that  the  setting  forth  of  scriptural 
truth  concerning  the  genesis  of  the  Son  of  God, 
in  the  phrase  and  manner  of  the  scriptures  them¬ 
selves,  is  feared,  by  well-meaning  persons  as  an 
impeachment  of  the  sectarian  forms  in  which  their 
theology  is  cast.  To  relieve  this  habitude  of 
mind,  in  regard  to  the  present  topic,  wre  annote 
the  thoughts  of  some  of  the  most  eminent  and 
pious  theologians,  ancient  and  modern. 

*  i  Cor,  x,  4,  —  “They  drank  of  that  spiritual  Rock  that 
went  with  them :  and  that  Rock  was  Christ.”  x,  9,  —  “  Nei- 
ter  let  us  tempt  Christ,  as  some  of  them  also  tempted,  and 
were  destroyed  of  serpents.” 


THE  HOL  Y  SPIRIT. 


33 


Matthew  Henry — the  best -read  in  the  Bible 
of  all  the  commentators  —  has  given  the  inspired 
conception  in  his  note  on  the  first  passage  in 
the  Gospel  by  John.  He  says : 

“  The  Evangelist  in  the  close  of  his  discourse 
(v,  18)  plainly  tells  us  why  he  calls  Christ  the 
Word  of  God:  —  because  He  is  the  only  begot¬ 
ten  Son  which  is  in  the  bosom  of  the  Father, 
and  has  declared  Him. 

“Word  is  two-fold;  word  conceived,  and  word 
uttered. 

“  (1.)  There  is  the  word  conceived,  that  is, 
thought ,  which  is  the  only  immediate  product  of 
the  soul  —  all  the  operations  of  which  are  per¬ 
formed  by  thought,  and  it  is  one  with  the  soul. 
Thus  the  second  person  in  the  Trinity  is  fitly 
called  the  Word,  for  He  is  the  first  begotten  of 
the  Father,  that  eternal  Wisdom  which  Jehovah 
possessed,  as  the  soul  doth  its  thought ,  ‘in  the 
beginning  of  his  way  ’  (Prov.  viii,  22) »  There 
is  nothing  we  are  more  sure  of  than  that  we 
think,  yet  there  is  nothing  we  are  more  in  the 
dark  about  than  how  we  think.  Who  can  de¬ 
clare  the  generation  of  thought  in  the  soul  ? 
Surely  then  the  generations  and  births  of  the 

Eternal  mind  may  well  be  allowed  to  be  great 

3 


34 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF 


mysteries  of  godliness,  which  we  can  not  fathom, 
while  yet  we  may  adore  the  depth. 

“  (2.)  There  is  word  uttered,  and  that  is 
speech.  Thus  Christ  is  the  Word,  for  by  Him, 
4  God  hath  spoken  in  these  last  times  unto  us  ’ 
(Heb.  i,  2),  and  has  directed  us  to  hear  Him. 
(Matt,  xvii,  5.)  He  has  made  known  God’s 
mind  unto  us,  as  a  man’s  word  or  speech  makes 
known  his  thought,  as  far  as  he  pleases,  and  no 
farther.” 

The  devout  Baxter  finds  in  both  the  human 
and  the  Divine  mind  a  trinity  of  “  essentiali¬ 
ties,”  which  he  calls  life -action,  understanding, 
and  will  —  (Potentia-actus,  Intellectus,  Voluntas). 
He  does  not  affirm  that  these  principles  are  all 
there  is  of  the  Trinity,  or  the  Divine  person¬ 
ality  ;  yet  they  are  in  his  opinion  the  ground 
of  a  three -fold,  eternal  self-action  in  the  God¬ 
head,  and  likewise  the  ground  of  the  Divine 
manifestation  in  three  persons.  See  Meth.  vi,  c. 
2,  and  Brae.  Works  19,  21. 

Some  passages  from  the  Fathers  will  indicate 
the  mode  of  expression  not  uncommon  in  the 
earlier  ages  of  the  Christian  Church. 

Clement  of  Alexandria  writes,  in  his  exhorta¬ 
tion  to  the  Greeks :  “  The  Divine  Logos,  the 


THE  HOL  Y  SPIRIT. 


35 


Christ,  was  the  cause  of  our  being,  and  well¬ 
being  also,  for  He  was  in  God.  And  now  this 
Logos  Himself  appears  to  men,  the  only  being 
that  ever  partook  of  both  natures,  as  well  that  of 
God  as  of  man,  to  be  the  cause  of  all  good  to  us.7’ 

Tertullian  says :  “  The  Greeks  denominate  that 
Logos  which  we  translate  Word,  and  thus  our 
people,  for  brevity’s  sake,  say  — 4  In  the  begin¬ 
ning  the  Word  was  with  God;’  though  it  would 
be  more  proper  to  say  —  Reason,  since  God  was 
not  speaking  from  the  beginning,  although  ra¬ 
tional.  *  *  *  Considering,  therefore,  and  dis¬ 

posing  by  His  reason,  He  effected  His  will  by 
His  word,  which  thou  mayest  easily  understand 
by  what  passes  in  thyself”  Tur .  ad  Prax.  c.  v. 

Justin  the  Martyr  —  the  first  of  the  apologists, 
who  stood  in  immediate  connection  with  the 
apostles,  says :  “  It  is  not  allowable  to  think 
otherwise  of  the  Spirit  and  Power  which  is  in 
God  than  that  it  is  the  Logos,  which  also  is  the 
first-born  of  God.” — Ap.  ii. 

§  8. — Mind  manifested  only  by  its  Logos ,  or 

out-birth. 

We  can  know  the  character  of  a  spirit  only 
by  its  words  and  acts — its  logos  revealed  in 


36 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF 


words  and  action.  Man  may  embody  his  word 
impersonally,  in  written  language,  and  send  it  to 
all  nations  who  understand  the  written  charac¬ 
ter.  Why  then  might  not  the  W ord  of  God  be 
made  flesh?  Why  might  not  God  send  His  Son 

—  the  Word,  or  out -birth  of  the  Divine  mind 

—  to  become  personal  in  a  human  nature,  so 

that  the  true  God  might  be  revealed  through 
the  flesh  to  those  in  the  flesh  ?  “  Thus  God  in 

these  last  days  has  spoken  to  us  by  his  Son.” 

From  the  nature  of  the  case  such  a  manifes¬ 
tation  was  necessary,  or  man  could  never  know 
God.*  The  Scriptures  affirm  the  form  of  this 
manifestation  in  language  that  is  easily  under¬ 
stood.  “  God  was  in  Christ,  reconciling  the 
world  to  himself.”  Jesus  produces  reconciliation 

by  revealing  the  Divine  character  in  waj^s 

✓ 

adapted  to  our  nature  and  our  wants.  He  said, 
“  I  am  the  way,  the  truth ,  and  the  life ;  no  man 
can  come  unto  the  Father  but  by  me.”  He  is 
the  Mediator  —  the  Way.  God  and  man  meet 
together  in  His  person.  God  comes  in  on  the 
side  of  His  divinity,  and  man  comes  in  and 
meets  God  through  the  side  of  His  humanity. 
lie  is  the  truth — the  Divine  character  and  will 

*  See  “  God  revealed,”  etc.,  B.  ii,  c,  5. 


THE  HOL  Y  SPIRIT. 


37 


are  manifested  through  Him.  “  No  man  know- 
eth  the  Father  but  the  Son,  and  he  to  whom¬ 
soever  the  Son  will  reveal  him.”  He  is  the  Life 
—  the  Spirit  of  Life  was  in  Him ;  and  He  was 
a  life-giving  Spirit. 

We  shall  see  more  distinctly  as  we  go  on  that 
it  is  the  character ,  the  nature  of  God,  thus  re¬ 
vealed  in  Christ,  which  becomes  the  element  of 
saving  power  in  the  soul.  The  teaching,  the 
life,  and  the  death  of  Christ,  is  a  true,  and  full, 
and  final  revelation  of  the  Divine  thought,  and 
will,  and  heart,  in  regard  to  man*;  and  by  faith, 
which  gives  this  manifestation  effect  upon  the 
soul,  “Christ  Jesus,  of  God,  is  made  unto  us 
wisdom,  and  righteousness,  and  sanctification,  and 
redemption.”  * 

§9.  —  G-od  becomes  imminently  and  effectively  per¬ 
sonal  only  in  Christ. 

Man  is  so  constituted  as  a  moral  being,  that 
obedience  and  gratitude  can  be  exercised  only 
toward  a  personal  being  —  a  being  who  consciously 
and  voluntarily  does  us  good.  The  idea  of  theol¬ 
ogizing  skeptics,  that  man  can  be  grateful  to  the 


38 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF 


laws  of  nature,  or  to  the  bread  that  satisfies 
his  hunger,  is  preposterous.  Man  can  feel  no 
sense  of  responsibility  or  gratitude  to  something 
that  is  “neither  personal  nor  impersonal”*  in 
any  comprehensible  sense.  Obligation,  obedience, 
gratitute,  are  possible  only  when  founded  upon 
the  character  and  voluntary  acts  of  a  personal 
being. 

Now  it  is  by  the  work  of  Christ  that  God 
becomes  imminently  personal  to  the  soul.  The 
human  mind  can  have  an  idea  of  the  personality 
of  an  invisible  spirit  only  in  connection  with  its 
history,  its  life-action,  f  My  life-work  gives  char¬ 
acter  to  my  personality,  in  the  minds  of  others, 
after  I  leave  the  world.  All  that  other  spirits 
can  know  or  judge  of  me  as  a  separate  person 
they  must  get  from  the  will,  intellect,  and  love 
manifested  in  my  life.  So  we  can  know  God  as 
a  personal  being  only  by  His  manifestation  in 
the  angelic  or  human  nature  —  a  manifestation  of 
heart  and  will  —  feeling  and  action — which  the 
soul  may  accept  by  faith  as  a  revelation  of  the 
divine  nature.  The  idea  of  a  God  every  where 

*  See  Parkers  “Discourses  of  Religion.” 

|  Hence  the  Anthropomorphism  of  all  ages  and  religions,  from 
the  beginning  to  the  end  of  the  world. 


THE  HOL  Y  SPIRIT. 


39 


present  at  the  same  time,  over  and  in  nature, 
may  be  true,  but  it  is  impersonal ,  and  hence  it 
is  abstract  and  without  life  to  the  human  soul. 
In  the  presence  of  such  an  idea  of  God,  man 
can  neither  exercise  obedience,  gratitude,  or  wor¬ 
ship. 

§  10.  —  The  Holy  Spirit  uses  the  personality  of 
Christ  in  the  work  of  Redemption , 

Hence  we  are  taught  that  the  Holy  Spirit^ 
when  He  comes  to  the  soul,  does  not  speak  of 
Himself — of  His  own  personality  —  but  He  takes 
of  the  things  that  belong  to  Christ,  and  shows 
them  to  the  believer.*  When  the  soul  is  con¬ 
scious  of  the  Divine  presence,  it  does  not  recog¬ 
nize  two  personalities;  because  the  Spirit  comes 
clothed  in  the  personality  of  Jesus,  and  its  life 
is  bestowed  through  the  manifestations  which 
God  makes  of  Himself  in  His  Son. 

The  Holy  Spirit  gives  to  the  soul  by  influx 
through  the  susceptibility,  a  newer  and  higher 
consciousness  of  the  Divine  nature,  which  is 
love.  But  He  is  not  a  revealer  of  new  truths, 
nor  an  exhibitor  of  His  own  personality.  When 


*  John.,  xvi,  15. 


40 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF 


He  visits  the  pious  mind,  He  does  not  lead  that 
mind  to  think  of  Himself,  but  of  Jesus.  He 
takes  of  the  manifestations  of  the  Divine  char¬ 
acter,  made  by  Christ,  and  gives  them  efficacy, 
by  power  and  love,  in  the  human  soul.  He 
comes  to  us  through  the  Son,  baptized  in  his 
humanities>  as  a  ray  of  light  takes  the  hue  of 
the  medium  through  which  it  passes;  and  thus 
He  becomes  to  the  soul  the  Spirit  of  both  the 
divine  and  the  human,  as  it  was  in  Christ  Jesus. 
The  Son  of  God  manifests  the  Divine  mind ;  the 
Spirit  of  God  uses  that  manifestation  to  sanctify 
and  save  us.  Hence  Christ  and  the  Spirit  are 
one  to  the  soul,  and  one  in  the  Church  to  the 
end  of  the  dispensation;  as  He  said,  “Lo,  I  am 
with  you  alway,  even  to  the  end  of  the  world.”* 

*  The  ideas  of  some  of  the  elder  divines,  as  well  as  the 
modems,  are  strangely  confused  in  regard  to  the  work  of  the 
Spirit,  and  the  relation  of  the  Word  and  the  Spirit  in  the  work 
of  redemption.  For  evidence  of  this,  see  text  and  notes  in 
Archdeacon  Hare’s  “Mission  of  the  Comforter.” 


THE  HOL  V  SPIRIT. 


41 


CHAPTER  III. 

THE  HOLY  SPIRIT  IN  THE  PERSONALITY  OF  CHRIST. 

That  there  was  a  special  connection  between 
the  Holy  Spirit  and  the  human  nature  of  Christ 
is  plainly  and  frequently  taught  in  the  New 
Testament.  The  inspired  teaching  on  this  subject 
can  not  be  easily  misunderstood.  The  creeds  of 
sects  have  in  some  instances  blinded  its  expres¬ 
sion,  but  still  the  true  import  of  Scripture  is 
generally  accepted  in  the  churches.  In  all  the 
parts,  and  in  all  the  accomplishments  of  Christ’s 
mission,  the  Holy  Spirit  is  spoken  of  as  the 
developing  power.  When  the  plain  Bible  state¬ 
ment  is  received  as  authority,  the  several  pas- 
ages  on  this  subject  scarcely  need  an  exposition. 
We  shall  therefore  give  passages,  with  only  such 
remarks  as  seem  necessary  for  their  historical 
connection. 

§  11. —  The  humanity  of  Christ  was  by  the  Holy 
In  His  humanity,  Christ  was  the  “  second 


42 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF 


Adam ;  ”  the  second  human  nature  created  im, 
mediately  by  the  Divine  power.*  The  humanity 
of  Christ,  being  originated  by  the  life-giving 
energy  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  was  hence  without 
the  taint  of  transmitted  debility  or  depravity. 
Therefore  it  was  declared  that  the  Holy  Being 
born  of  the  Virgin  should  be  called  the  Son  of 
God.  In  this  pure  humanity  “  dwelled  the  full¬ 
ness  of  th^  Godhead  bodily,”  as  the  Shekinah 
dwelled  in  the  tabernacle  in  the  wilderness. 
John  i,  114, — “The  Word  was  made  flesh,  and 
tabernacled  among  us.”  John  ii,  19  —  21, — 
“  Destroy  this  temple,  and  in  three  days  I  will 
raise  it  up.”  “  He  spake  of  the  temple  of  his 
body.”  Thus  the  Son  of  God  by  eternal  gener¬ 
ation  became  united  with  the  Son  of  Man,  or 
the  Son  of  God  by  earthly  generation,  and  men 
“  beheld  his  glory ;  the  glory  of  the  only  begot¬ 
ten  of  the  Father,  full  of  grace  and  truth.” 

§  12. —  The  advent  of  the  Spirit  upon  Christ  at 

His  baptism ,  and  its  abiding  unity  with  His 

humanity. 

“  Jesus  increased  in  wisdom  and  in  stature, 
and  in  favor  both  with  God  and  man ;  ”  and 

*  See  Appendix  C  —  The  Scientific  Formulae  of  the 
Birth  of  Christ. 


THE  HOL  Y  SPIRIT. 


43 


“  when  he  began  to  be  about  thirty  years  of 
age  he  came  from  Galilee  to  Jordan  to  be  bap¬ 
tized  of  John  ;  and  being  baptized,  “  the  heav¬ 
ens  were  opened,  and  the  holy  ghost  descended 
UPON  HIM  IN  BODILY  SHAPE,  AS  A  DOVE.”  The 
Holy  Spirit  being  now  personally  in  Christ,  a 
voice  from  heaven  proclaimed,  “  This  is  my  be¬ 
loved  Son,  in  whom  I  am  well  pleased.” 

This  descent  of  the  Spirit  of  God  upon  Christ, 
the  second  Adam,  and  its  abiding  in  Him ,  was 
the  appointed  witness  to  John  of  the  Messiah- 
ship  of  the  Redeemer.  Before  this  manifestation 
the  Baptizer  had  known  Christ  as  a  holy  teacher, 
but  not  as  the  Messiah,  till  God  in  his  pres¬ 
ence  “  anointed  him  with  the  Holy  Ghost  and 
with  power.”*  “He  that  sent  me  to  baptize 
with  water,”  said  John,  “  the  same  said  unto 
me,  Upon  whom  thou  shalt  see  the  Holy  Spirit 
descending ,  and  REMAINING,  the  same  is  he 
which  baptizeth  with  the  Holy  Ghost.  And  I 
saw  and  bare  witness  that  this  is  the  Son  of 
God.”* 

*  Acts  x,  38.  f  John  i,  33,  34. 

[Words  and  quotations  that  are  capital  or  emphatic  in  the 
chain  of  exposition,  are  often  so  marked  in  the  text.  The  reader 
is  desired  to  mark  quoted  and  emphasized.] 


44 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF 


§  13. —  The  Holy  Spirit  abiding  in  Christ ,  leads 
Him  into  and  through  the  temptation. 

After  the  baptism  Luke  makes  record  that 
Jesus,  “  being  full  of  the  Holy  Grhostf  returned 
from  Jordan,  and  “  was  led  by  the  Spirit  into  the 
wilderness  to  be  tempted  of  the  devil.”  The 
Scriptures  teach  (James  i,  13),  that  God,  increate 
and  separate  from  sense,  “can  not  be  tempted 
wherefore,  in  the  order  of  reason  and  mercy, 
“  it  behooved  Christ  in  all  things  to  be  made 
like  unto  his  brethren,  that  he  might  be  a  mer¬ 
ciful  and  faithful  High  Priest  in  things  pertain¬ 
ing  to  God,  to  make  reconciliation  for  the  sins 
of  the  people.  For  in  that  he  himself  hath  suf¬ 
fered  being  tempted,  he  is  able  to  succor  them 
that  are  tempted.”*  Hence  “  a  body  was  pre¬ 
pared  ”  for  the  Redeemer,  that  He  might  be 
touched  through  its  sympathies  with  a  feeling  of 
our  infirmities.  By  the  incarnation,  God  came 
into  sensitive  sympathy  with  humanity,  and  in¬ 
vites  humanity  to  come  into  sympathy  with 
divinity.  Thus  the  Holy  Spirit  led  Christ  through 
a  human  experience,  “he  being  tempted  in  all 
respects  as  we  are,  yet  without  sin.” 


*  Heb.  ii,  17,  18. 


THE  HOL  V  SPIRIT. 


45 


§  14. —  The  ministry  of  Christ ,  and  the  manifesta¬ 
tion  of  Grod  in  Christ ,  by  the  Holy  Spirit. 

The  apostle  (1  Peter  i,  11)  says  of  the  prophets 
that  they  “searched  what,  and  what  manner,  of 
time,  the  Spirit  of  Christ  which  was  in  them 
did  signify,  when  it  testified  beforehand  the  suf¬ 
ferings  of  Christ,  and  the  glory  that  should  fol¬ 
low.”  And  this  Spirit  of  Christ  which  was  in 
them  (not  “bodily”  and  “without  measure,”  but 
inspiringly)  spake  of  the  whole  ministry  of  Christ 
as  being  developed  by  the  Holy  Ghost.  In  pro¬ 
phetic  transport,  Isaiah  exclaims  (lxi,  1),  “  The 
Spirit  of  the  Lord  God  is  upon  me  ;  because  the 
Lord  hath  anointed  me  to  preach  glad  tidings 
unto  the  meek ;  he  hath  sent  me  to  bind  up  the 
broken-hearted,  to  proclaim  liberty  to  the  cap- 
tives3  and  the  opening  of  the  prison  to  them 
that  are  bound.” 

In  various  forms  of  language  the  inspired 
writers  of  the  New  Testament,  also,  instruct  us 
that  Christ’s  ministry  —  His  miracles  —  His  sacri¬ 
fice  —  His  resurrection,  and  the  subsequent  en¬ 
dowment  of  the  apostles,  were  by  the  Divine 
Spirit. 

'  After  God  had  “  anointed  him  with  the  Holy 


46 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF 


Ghost  and  with  power  ”  at  His  baptism,  He 
returned  from  His  temptation  in  the  wilderness 
(into  which  He  had  been  led  by  the  Spirit) 
u  in  the  power  of  the  Spirit  into  Galilee .”  *  To 
the  sense  of  men  —  His  disciples,  as  well  as 
others — He  was  personally  present  as  a  human 
being,  but  His  claims  to  the  Messiahship,  as  the 
Son  of  God,  He  predicated  upon  the  statement 
(John  xiy,  10)  — “  The  Father  that  dwelleth  in 
me,”  He  “speaketh  the  words,”  and  “doeth  the 
works.” 

Hence  He  says  (Matt,  xii,  28), — “If  I  cast 
out  devils  by  the  Spirit  of  God ,  then  the  king¬ 
dom  of  God  is  come  unto  you.”  So,  likewise, 
He  taught  that  sin  against  the  Son  of  Man,  con¬ 
ceived  of  by  the  presence  of  His  human  person 
(in  which  even  His  disciples  did  not  clearly  dis¬ 
cern  the  indwelling  divinity,  (John  xiv,  9),  was 
pardonable  ;  but  those  who  with  malignant  mind 
should  sin  against  the  Holy  Ghost,  manifested 
by  greater  light  yet  to  be  given,  as  well  as  by 
miracles  of  mercy  and  power,  of  which  they  were 
witnesses,  “  had  no  forgiveness,  neither  in  this 
world,  nor  in  that  which  is  to  come.”  f 


*  Luke  iv,  14. 


f  Matt,  xii,  22  -  23. 


THE  HOL  Y  SPIRIT. 


47 


§  15. — The  sacrifice  and  resurrection  of  Christ  by 

the  Holy  Spirit . 

The  power  and  the  presence  of  the  Holy  Spirit 
is  recognized  in  the  chief  act  of  reconciliation  — 
the  sacrifice  of  Christ  upon  the  cross.  Hence  it 
is  said  (Heb.  ixy  14),  that  44  the  blood  of  Christ, 
who  through  the  Eternal  Spirit  offered  himself 
without  spot  unto  God,  shall  purge  your  con¬ 
sciences  from  dead  works  to  serve  the  living 
God.” 

This  purifying  effect  of  Christ’s  sacrifice  is  the 
conscious  secret  of  a  true  faith,  which  none  of 
the  formal  worshipers  of  this  day  understand. 
The  love  of  Christ,  by  the  life  of  the  Spirit,  is 
imparted  to  those  who  believe  in  His  sufferings 
for  their  good.  This  quickens  their  conscience, 
purifies  their  heart,  and  gives  love-motive  to  the 
will,  so  that  formal  worship  and  selfish  works 
cease :  their  44  conscience  is  purified  from  dead 
works,”  and  thenceforth  their  works  are  living 
works,  that  is,  works  produced  by  love  to  God 
and  men. 

After  His  sacrifice,  Christ  was  44  declared  to  be 
the  Son  of  God  with  power,  according  to  the 
Spirit  of  holiness ,  by  his  resurrection  from  the 


48 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF 


dead.”*  “Whom  the  Jews  slew,  God  by  his 
Spirit  raised  up.,;  And  the  Apostle  Peter,  in 
pregnant  sentences,  such  as  he  always  wrote, 
teaches  us  (1  Pet.  iii,  18)  that  Christ  has  once 
suffered  for  sins,  the  just  for  the  unjust,  that 
He  might  bring  us  to  God,  being  put  to  death 
in  the  flesh,  but  quickened ,  or  brought  to  life ,  by 
the  Spirit. 

Thus  “  the  God  of  peace  brought  again  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ  from  the  dead,”f  and  after 
His  resurrection,  being  assembled  together  with 
His  disciples,  He  breathed  on  them,  and  said, 
“  Receive  ye  the  Holy  Ghost.”  And  “  for  about 
the  space  of  forty  days,  he  continued,  before  his 
ascension,  until  he,  by  the  Holy  Grhost ,  had  given 
commandments  unto  the  apostles  whom  he  had 
chosen.”  f 

Thus,  in  all  the  vicissitudes  of  the  Redeemer’s 
life,  in  His  death,  and  in  His  resurrection,  THE 
SCRIPTURES  REQUIRE  US  TO  BELIEVE 
that  His  mission  and  ministy  tv  as  executed  by  the 
power  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  In  this  sense,  “  God 
was  in  Christ  reconciling  the  world  unto  him¬ 
self.”  “  In  him  was  Life,  and  that  Life  was 
the  light  of  men.”  “  The  first  Adam  was  made 

s  / 

*  Rom.  i,  4. 


f  Heb.  xiii,  20. 


X  Acts  i,  2. 


THE  HOL  Y  SPIRIT. 


49 


a  living  sonl ,  the  second  a  life-giving  Spirit,” — 
the  one  transmitting  animal  life  —  the  other  spirit¬ 
ual,  eternal  life.  And  the  work  of  Christ,  which 
in  the  days  of  His  flesh  was  thus  actuated  by 
the  Holy  Ghost,  is  stiL  administered,  and  will 
be  to  the  end  of  the  world,  by  the  same  Spirit, 
and  for  the  accomplishment  of  the  same  ends. 
Since  the  resurrection,  as  we  shall  see,  even  more 
efficiently  than  before,  “  Christ  of  God  is  made 
unto  men  wisdom,  and  righteousness,  ✓and  sanc¬ 
tification,  and  redemption.” 

4 


50 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF 


CHAPTER  IV. 


THE  ENDOWNENT  AND  SUPERVISION  OF  THE 
APOSTLES  BY  THE  HOLY  SPIRIT.* 

Christ  having  accomplished  His  personal  work 
in  the  world,  the  next  step  in  the  process  was 
to  endow  with  the  Spirit,  and  send  forth  those 
apostles  whom  He  had  chosen,  disciplined,  and 
furnished  with  the  truth  of  the  new  dispensation. 
They  were  to  go  forth  “as  sheep  among  wolves;” 
but  “  endued  with  a  spirit  and  wisdom  which 
their  enemies  could  neither  gainsay  nor  resist.” 
Thus  endowed,  and  trusting  in  him  who  had 
promised  to  be  with  them,  they  went  forth  joy¬ 
fully  to  a  life  of  labor  and  suffering  —  but  to  a 
labor  sustained  by  the  hope,  which  by  faith  had 
become  a  reality,  that  they  would  establish  the 
kingdom  of  God  upon  earth,  and  initiate  an  order 
and  worship  against  which  the  powers  of  evil 
could  never  prevail. 

* 


Vide — Preliminary  Essay  to  McKnight  on  the  Epistles. 


THE  HOL  Y  SPIRIT. 


51 


§  16. —  The  disciples  in  the  Old  Testament  state , 
until  after  the  outpouring  of  the  Spirit. 

With  some  little  advance  in  spiritual  insight, 
the  disciples  were  in  the  Old  Testament  state 
until  after  Christ’s  resurrection.  Jesus  did  not 
design  to  remove,  even  in  their  case,  the  forms 
of  Old  Testament  worship,  nor  the  sense  of  Old 
Testament  obligation,  until  after  His  ascension. 
All  the  sanctions  of  duty  were  drawn  from  the 
Old  Testament,  until  the  New  was  inaugurated. 
The  disciples  asked  nothing  in  the  name  of  Christ 
before  His  sacrifice  in  the  sense  that  they  did 
afterwards.  They  had  a  purified  heart,  and  an 
obedient  will;*  but  they  had  not  the  spiritual 
consciousness  of  the  new  dispensation  until  after 
the  outpouring  of  the  promised  Spirit.  As  they 
went  to  Emmaus,  their  words  to  the  risen  Re¬ 
deemer  not  only  indicated  that  they  had  not 
apprehended  the  import  and  the  necessity  of  His 
death  (a  truth  which  He  had  plainly  indicated 
to  them),  but  they  disclosed  very  distinctly  the 
secular  views  which  they  entertained  of  His 

*  John  xv,  3. —  “Now  ye  are  pure  through  the  word  which  I 
have  spoken  unto  you,”  etc. 


52 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF 


mission,  even  after  the  fact  of  His  crucifixion. 
Luke  xxii,  14-21 — “We  had  trusted,”  said  they, 
“  that  it  had  been  he  who  should  have  redeemed 
Israel.” 

The  prophets  did  not  fully  understand  the 
spiritual  nature  of  Christ’s  sacrifice  nor  the  spir¬ 
itual  character  of  that  glory  which  was  to  fol¬ 
low,*  and  the  disciples  appear  to  have  remained 
with  like  imperfect  conceptions  of  the  character 
and  mission  of  the  Redeemer,  until  they  were 
“endued  with  power  from  on  high.”  They  said, 
when  they  assembled  with  Him  after  the  resur¬ 
rection,  and  before  the  outpouring  of  the  Holy 
Spirit,  “  Lord,  wilt  thou,  at  this  time,  restore 
the  kingdom  to  Israel?”!  The  answer  of  Jesus 
(as  though  an  exposition  at  that  time  would  be 
of  but  little  value  to  them)  gave  no  solution  of 
their  inquiry,  but  referred  them  to  the  outpour¬ 
ing  of  the  Spirit,  for  which  they  were  to  wait 
at  Jerusalem.  “Ye  shall  receive,”  said  He,  “the 
power  of  the  Holy  Ghost  coming  upon  you :  J 
and  ye  shall  be  witnesses  unto  me  both  in  Je- 

*  i  Peter  i,  10-12.  f  Acts,  I,  6. 

\  The  “ power  of  the  Holy  Ghost  came  upon  the  disciples.” 
Upon  Jesus  the  Holy  Spirit  descended  and  remained  in  a  per¬ 
sonal  form. 


THE  HOL  Y  SPIRIT. 


53 


rusalem,  and  in  Judea,  and  in  Samaria,  and  unto 
the  uttermost  parts  of  the  earth.  And  when  he 
jiad  spoken  these  words,  while  they  beheld,  he 
was  taken  up ;  and  a  cloud  received  him  out 
of  their  sight.”  *  They  then  returned  to  Jeru¬ 
salem  to  wait,  as  Christ  had  commanded  them,  * 
for  “the  promise  of  the  Father,”  which,  said 
He,  uye  have  heard  of  me.  For  John  truly 
baptized  with  water ;  but  ye  shall  be  baptized 
with  the  Holy  Grhost  not  many  days  hence.” 

§  17.  —  Peter's  precipitancy  and  error  in  acting 

\ 

before  the  time. 

Peter  was  by  nature  impetuous,  tie  had  the 
temperament  of  Luther  —  a  temperament  which 
fits  a  man  for  great  achievements  when  chastened 
by  great  grace.  His  precipitancy  before  his  “con¬ 
version,”  or  spiritual  illumination,  often  led  him 
into  mistakes,  and  sometimes  into  sin.  An  error 
of  this  kind,  as  we  suppose,  occurred  while  the 
disciples  “  waited  ”  at  Jerusalem  for  the  advent 
of  the  “promised  Spirit.”  The  plain  intimation 
in  the  instruction  of  Christ  is,  that  nothing  was 
to  be  done  until  they  should  be  “  baptized  with 


*  Acts  i,  8,  g,  and  4,  5. 


54 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF 


the  Holy  Ghost  and  with  power.”  But  the  san¬ 
guine  impulses  of  Peter  prompted  him,  and  he 
prompted  the  other  disciples,  to  elect  a  twelfth 
apostle  before  the  time.  They  were  instructed 
to  await  the  influence  and  guidance  of  the  Spirit 
before  they  began  their  work;  yet,  under  the 
motion  of  Peter,  they  elected  Matthias  to  the 
apostleship.  This  election  without  the  Spirit  did 
not  receive  the  Divine  sanction.  Matthias  was 
no  doubt  a  faithful  disciple,  but  Christ,  person¬ 
ally,  chose  His  own  apostles ;  and  subsequently 
to  this  election  He  chose  and  endowed  Paul,  as 
the  twelfth  member  of  the  sacred  college.  He 
was  called  miraculously  by  the  voice  of  Jesus 
Himself,  and  received  a  special  commission  to 
46  bear  the  name  of  Christ  before  the  Gentiles  and 
kings  and  the  children  of  Israel;”  and  the  badge 
of  suffering  was  annexed  as  in  the  case  of  the 
other  apostles.  Acts  ix,  10  —  “I  will  show  him 
how  great  things  he  shall  suffer  for  my  sake.”* 
Before  noticing  the  work  of  the  apostles,  and 
their  spiritual  consciousness,  we  will  now  return 
a  moment,  and  notice  their  call  and  appointment, 
and  the  promises  of  enlightenment  and  guidance 
o'iven  them  in  the  last  instructions  of  the  Re- 

*  See  Appendix  D —  Paul,  not  Matthias,  the  twelfth  Apostle. 


THE  HOL  Y  SPIRIT. 


55 


deemer.  We  shall  see  the  whole  subject  more 
clearly  by  noticing  the  import  of  specific  passages. 
Some  repetition  will  occur  by  this  method,  but 
it  will  serve  to  bring  out  the  application  of  the 
same  thought  in  different  relations. 


§  18. —  Christ's  choice  of  the  apostles. 

John  xv,  16, — u  Ye  have  not  chosen  me,  but 
I  have  chosen  you,  and  ordained  you,  that  ye 
should  go  and  bring  forth  fruit,  and  that  your 
fruit  should  remain :  that  whatsoever  ye  shall  ask 
the  Father  in  my  name,  he  may  give  it  you.” 

The  choice  of  the  apostles  and  their  appoint¬ 
ment  to  their  vocation  are  here  stated.  Jesus 
had  communicated  to  them  the  truth,  which  He 
tells  them  in  the  context  He  had  “received  of 
the  Father.”  Yer.  15, — “All  things  that  I  have 
heard  of  my  Father  I  have  made  known  unto 
you.”  Hence  from  the  Father,  through  the  Son, 
by  the  Spirit,  they  were  endowed  for  their  holy 
office.  As  in  ver.  26,  27,- — “When  the  Comforter 
is  come,  whom  I  shall  send  unto  you  from  the 
Father,  even  the  Spirit  of  Truth,  which  proceed- 
eth  from  the  Father,  he  shall  testify  of  me  :  and 
ye  shall  bear  witness  because  ye  have  been  with 


56 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF 


me  from  the  beginning.”  In  their  subsequent 
work  the  apostles  understood  and  affirmed  their 
commission  as  witnesses  conjointly  with  the  Holy 
Spirit.  They  said  (Acts  v,  32),  we  are  witnesses , 
and  so  is  also  the  Holy  Ghost ,  which  God  hath 
given  to  them  that  obey  Ilim. 

Thus  by  the  instruction  of  Christ  and  the  en¬ 
dowment  of  the  Spirit  they  were  qualified  for 
their  mission.  They  were  to  be  the  seed-men  of 
the  dispensation,  the  fruit  of  whose  lives  was  to 
be  permanent  spiritual  instruction  in  the  churches, 
and  for  all  mankind.  In  accordance  with  this 
appointment,  their  fruit  remains  in  the  inspired 
writings,  and  in  church  organizations ;  and  this 
truth  will  ever  continue  the  element  of  enlight¬ 
enment  and  of  sanctification  to  us  and  to  all 
future  generations  of  men. 


§  19.  —  Promise  of  Christ'’ s  special  presence  by 
the  Spirit ,  in  answer  to  their  supplication . 

In  conjunction  with  the  appointment  of  the 
apostles,  and  with  the  promise  that  their  labors 
should  remain  as  an  abiding  blessing  to  mankind, 
there  is  assurance  given  them  that  their  prayers 
should  be  answered.  They  would  need  con- 


THE  HOL  Y  SPIRIT. 


57 


strain t,  aid,  and  guidance  in  their  work,  and  this 
was  granted  according  to  the  same  principle  that 
governs  other  cases,  that  is,  on  condition  of  faith 
and  obedience.  But,  as  their  work  was  to  be 
permanent  and  special,  so  corresponding  plenary 
communications  were  furnished.  The  promised 
answer  to  their  prayer  had,  no  doubt,  reference, 
in  an  especial  sense,  to  the  gift  of  the  Holy 
Spirit,  that  should  live  internally  in  their  con¬ 
sciousness,  and  work  externally  in  the  providences 
that  surrounded  them.  John  xiv,  14-18,  —  “If 
ye  ask  any  thing  in  my  name,  I  will  do  it.  If 
ye  love  me,  keep  my  commandments.  And  I 
will  pray  the  Father,  and  he  shall  give  you 
another  Comforter,  that  may  abide  with  you  for¬ 
ever  ;  even  the  Spirit  of  Truth  ;  whom  the  world 
can  not  receive,  because  it  seeth  him  not,  neither 
knoweth  him  :*  but  ye  know  him  ;  for  he  dwell- 
eth  with  you,  and  shall  be  in  you.”  And  then, 

*  T’e  world  can  have  no  spiritual  consciousness  of  Christ  as  a 
Divine  Saviour.  They  can  know  Him  historically,  as  to  His 
humanity ;  but  it  is  the  Spirit  that  gives  the  divine  to  the  idea  of 
His  personality.  The  Son  of  Man  they  may  know,  but  not  the 
Son  of  God.  They  may  know  Christ  in  Matthew,  Mark,  and 
Luke,  but  not  in  John.  “  No  man  can  call  Jesus  Lord,  but  by 
the  Holy  Ghost.”  Christ  in  the  spirit  is  by  faith  ;  Christ  in  the 

letter  is  by  intellect. 

8 


I 


58 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF 


identifying  Himself  with  the  Holy  Spirit,  and 
His  second  coming  with  the  coming  of  the  Spirit, 
He  says,  “  I  will  not  leave  you  comfortless ,  1 
will  come  unto  you.”  That  is,  in  the  Com¬ 
forter,  Jesus  would  return  as  a  spiritual  Saviour 
• — to  comfort  them,  to  be  with  them,  and  in 
them.  * 

§  20.-— All  essential  truth  spoken  by  Christ  to  be 
preserved  by  the  suggestion  of  the  Spirit. 

John  xiv,  20,  —  “  But  the  Comforter,  which  is 
the  Holy  Ghost,  whom  the  Father  will  send,  in 
my  name,f  he  shall  teach  you  all  things,  and 
bring  all  things  to  your  remembrance,  whatsoever 
I  have  said  unto  you.” 

This  is  a  divine  guarantee  that  the  communi¬ 
cation  of  truth  by  the  apostles  should  be  perfect. 
They  were  to  be  guided  into  all  truth  necessary 
to  the  ends  of  their  mission  —  truth  adequate  to 
the  enlightenment  and  sanctification  of  men.  And 
if,  through  the  imperfection  of  memory,  any  ne- 

*  Note.  —  That  the  Spirit  comes  in  Christ’s  personality  is  here 
distinctly  and  authoritavely  affirmed. 

f  “Name”  is  used  in  the  New  Testament  synonymously  with 
character,  nature,  or  personality. 


THE  HOL  Y  SPIRIT. 


59 


cessary  words  had  been  forgotten  ;  or  if,  through 
the  imperfection  of  apprehension,  any  words  had 
been  wrongly  construed,  the  Spirit  would  suggest 
the  idea  in  such  form  and  connection  that  it 
would  be  expressed  in  its  true  import ;  albeit  in 
the  phraseology  peculiar  to  the  character  and 
culture  of  the  apostolic  witness.  Many  volumes 
may  have  been  spoken  by  the  Saviour  in  order 
to  convey  to  the  apostles  the  required  ideas,  yet 
nothing  necessary  for  human  good  in  all  His 
teachings  was  to  be  lost.  The  Comforter,  by 
quickening  conception,  guiding  in  the  law  of 
suggestion,  and  giving  spiritual  unction  to  the 
soul,  would  “guide  them  into  all  truth.” 

§  21.  —  The  spiritual  sense  promised  to  the  apostles . 

The  apostles,  as  we  have  noticed,  were  in  the 
Old  Testament  state  until  after  the  outpouring 
of  the  Spirit.  The  human  person  of  Christ,  too, 
being  before  their  eyes,  shut  out,  in  a  sense, 
“  the  light  of  the  knowledge  of  the  glory  of 
God,”  as  it  subsequently  u  shone  in  the  face  of 
the  Redeemer.”*  Jesus  recognized  their  want  of 

*  2  Cor.  v,  16 ,  —  “  Yea,  though  we  have  known  Christ  after  the 
flesh  yet  now,  henceforth,  know  we  him  (in  this  sense)  no  more.” 


60 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF 


spiritual  strength  and  spiritual  insight,  and  prom¬ 
ised  them  more  light  and  better  appreciation  after 
His  ascension.  And  because  the  spiritual  import 
of  His  teachings  required  a  sense  to  which  they 
could  not  then  attain,  He  often  spake  to  them 
in  parables  that  might  be  spiritually  construed  at 
the  full  time.  The  exposition  of  these  parables 
He  sometimes  gave,  yet  they  continued  to  con¬ 
strue  them  in  the  Old  Testament  sense.  Even 
when  they  supposed  that  they  understood  their 
teacher,  as  in  John  xvi,  29,  30,  still  they  did 
not  perceive ;  and  the  import  of  Christ’s  replies 
indicates  their  continued  dullness,  and  refers  them 
to  coming  events,  that  would  be  evidence  to 
themselves  of  their  misapprehension.  “  Do  ye 
now  believe?” — ye  think  ye  do;  but  when  I 
shall  have  been  crucified,  as  I  have  said,  instead 
of  understanding  the  true  state  of  the  case,  ye 
will  all  be  scattered,  every  man  to  his  own,  as 
if  My  mission  had  failed.  But  notwithstanding 
their  dullness  in  the  presence  of  His  humanity, 
He  promised  them,  in  the  future,  eyes  to  see  the 
spiritual  sense ,  and  ears  to  hear  the  words  now 
spoken  to  them  as  the  words  of  God.  “  These 
things,”  said  He  (John  xvi,  25),  “  have  I  spoken 
unto  you  in  proverbs :  but  the  time  cometh,  when 


THE  HOL  Y  SPIRIT. 


61 


I  shall  no  more  speak  unto  you  in  proverbs,  but 
shall  show  you  plainly  of  the  Father.5’  That  is, 
they  did  not  now  perceive  the  full  import  of 
the  words  which  spoke  of  His  Divinity ;  but  the 
time  was  approaching  when  the  Father’s  charac¬ 
ter,  revealed  by  Him,  would  be  revealed  in  their 
consciousness  by  the  influx  of  the  Holy  Spirit. 
“  At  that  day,”  He  said,  “  Ye  shall  know  that 
I  am  in  the  Father,  and  ye  in  me,  and  I  in 
you.” 

This  knowledge,  which  they  were  to  possess 
after  their  spiritual  illumination,  would  be  through 
a  manifestation  of  Himself  by  the  Holy  Spirit, 
and  in  this  manifestation  all  the  attributes  of  the 
Father  would  be  revealed  to  them  through  Him. 
John  xvi,  14,  15, — The  Holy  Spirit ,  when  He  is 
come,  “  shall  glorify  me  :  for  he  shall  receive  of 
mine,  and  shall  show  it  unto  you.  All  things 
that  the  Father  hath  are  mine :  therefore  said  I, 
that  he  shall  receive  of  mine,  and  shall  show  it 
unto  you.”  Hence,  the  Saviour  said  to  His  dis¬ 
ciples  in  this  connection — ye  ought  to  “  rejoice 
that  I  go  to  the  _  Father,  because  the  Father  is 
greater  than  I.”  That  is,  the  Father  sends  the 
Word  and  is  revealed  by  it.  When  I  depart  in 
the  flesh  the  Spirit  will  come  and  give  divinity 


62 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF 


and  power  to  My  personality,  and  thus  all  the 
attributes  of  the  Father  will  be  manifested  unto 
you  more  clearly  than  ye  can  now  perceive  them. 
This  revelation  of  the  Godhead  of  the  Father 
through  the  Son  would  be  more  full  and  clear 
after  the  advent  of  the  Spirit ;  not  only  because 
the  Spirit  was  veiled  and  localized  in  a  sense  in 
Christ’s  humanity,*  but  because  when  the  Word 
returned  to  the  bosom  of  the  Father,  having  re¬ 
vealed  by  the  crucifixion  the  perfect  love  of  the 
Godhead,  then  by  the  Spirit,  in  the  personality 
of  Christ,  the  Father  would  be  revealed  in  love 
both  by  Word  and  Spirit  to  the  human  soul. 

§  22. — Further  exposition  of  the  promise  that  greater 
light  and  power  would  be  given  by  the  Spirit 
after  Christ's  ascension. 

There  are  plain  passages!  in  which  Christ 
teaches  that  the  Spirit  could  not  be  given  to  the 
world,  in  its  plenitude  and  perfection,  until  He 
had  finished  His  work  on  earth  and  ascended  to 
heaven.  Guided  by  the  Scriptures,  we  can  see 
reasons  for  the  statements  which  promise  this  in- 

*  See  Hare’s  “  Mission  of  the  Comforter.”  Notes, 
f  Luke  xxiv,  49;  John  xiv,  12,  16;  and  xvi,  7,  13. 


THE  HOL  Y  SPIRIT. 


63 


crease  of  spiritual  power.  The  great  sacrifice  was 
not  yet  offered.  This  was  a  revelation  of  Divine 
love  more  perfect  than  had  before  been  mani¬ 
fested  on  earth ;  the  Spirit,  therefore,  who  was 
not  to  speak  of  Himself,  but  to  use  the  spiritual 
material  furnished  by  the  Redeemer,  had  truth 
in  more  plenitude,  and  could  make  clearer  mani¬ 
festations  of  Divine  love  after  than  before  the 
crucifixion. 

Besides  this,  the  resurrection  and  ascension  of 
Christ  were  evidences  that  His  work  had  been 
accepted  of  the  Father.  When  there  was  evi¬ 
dence  that  the  Father  raised  Jesus  from  the  dead, 
then  in  the  minds  of  all  those  who  believed  the 
fact,  the  rejection  of  Christ  would  produce  a 
sense  of  sin  against  God.  The  resurrection  of 
Christ  from  the  dead  was  absolute  evidence  that 
God  approved  and  authorized  His  work ;  hence 
the  Spirit,  by  the  resurrection,  would  not  only 
reveal  greater  love  by  the  sacrifice  of  Christ  to 
those  who  received  Him,*  but  greater  guilt  in 
those  who  had  rejected  Him.  In  view  of  this, 
Jesus  said,  “When  the  Comforter  shall  come,  he 
will  convince  the  world  of  righteousness,  because 
I  go  to  the  Father.”  My  teaching,  having  re- 


*  I  Peter  I,  3. 


64 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF 


ceived  visibly  the  sanction  of  the  Father,  will 
become  the  rule  of  righteousness  by  which  men 
will  be  convicted  of  sin. 

These  manifestations,  to  be  used  by  the  Spirit 
thenceforward,  were  powers  existing  after  the  fact 
that  did  not  exist  before,  except  imperfectly  in 
type  and  shadow.  Hence  greater  spiritual  power 
was  promised  to  attend,  and  did  accordingly  at¬ 
tend,  the  preaching  of  the  apostles  after  the 
advent  of  the  Spirit,  than  had  accompanied  the 
preaching  of  Christ  before.  John  xiv,  12, — 
“Verily,  verily,  I  say  unto  you,  he  that  believeth 
on  me,  the  works  that  I  do  shall  he  do  also ; 
and  greater  works  than  these  shall  he  do ;  be¬ 
cause  I  go  unto  my  Father.” 

The  apostles  likewise,  after  they  were  “  con¬ 
verted,”  as  Peter  needed  to  be,  into  the  spiritual 
dispensation,*  taught  that  the  promises  of  Christ, 
in  regard  to  the  plenitude  of  life  by  the  Spirit, 
did  not  refer  to  the  days  of  His  flesh,  but  to 
the  greater  work,  in  a  spiritual  sense,  which 
would  be  accomplished  after  His  ascension.  John 
vii,  87 -89, — “In  the  last  day,  that  great  day  of 
the  feast,  Jesus  stood  and  cried,  saying,  If  any 

*  Are  not  many  men  of  our  day  still  partly  in  the  Old  Testa¬ 
ment  State  ? 


THE  IIOL  V  SPIRIT. 


65 


man  thirst,  let  him  come  unto  me,  and  drink. 
He  that  believeth  on  me  as  the  Scripture  hath 
said,  out  of  his  heart  shall  flow  rivers  of  living 
water.”  But  this  did  not  have  its  full  import 
that  day,  nor  did  it  find  its  true  verification 
until  the  advent  of  the  Spirit.  The  apostle  there¬ 
fore  adds,  as  an  exposition  of  the  words,  fC  But 
this  spake  he  of  the  Spirit,  which  they  that  be¬ 
lieve  on  him  should  receive :  for  the  Holy  Ghost 
was  not  yet  given ;  because  that  Jesus  was  not  yet 
glorified .” 

When  we  add  to  these  thoughts  the  fact 
already  alluded  to,  that  Christ,  as  the  Son  of 
Man,  could  be  personally  present  in  one  place 
only  at  the  same  time,  but  the  Spirit  would, 
after  its  advent,  be  an  everywhere-present  revealer 
of  Christ  —  then  the  greater  glory  to  be  mani¬ 
fested  after  the  days  of  Christ’s  ministry  is 
clearly  apparent.  The  words  of  Christ  then  be¬ 
came  “  spirit  and  life  ”  to  those  who  believed, 
and  all  the  efficacy  contained  in  a  perfect  reve¬ 
lation  of  the  Divine  character  which  had  been 
given  by  the  mission  of  Christ,  was  used  to 
quicken  and  sanctify  the  human  soul. 

“  It  was  expedient,”  therefore,  after  the  truth 
had  been  perfectly  revealed,  and  the  material  of 

5 


G6 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF 


sanctification  fully  provided,  that  Christ,  in  His 
humanity,  “should  go  away,”  in  order  that  by 
His  spiritual  presence  He  might  be  every  where 
present  with  each  disciple  and  with  His  churches, 
until  the  end  of  the  world.  After  the  ascension, 
therefore,  the  presence  of  the  Spirit  is  spoken  of 
as  Christ’s  own  presence.  “  Wherever  two  or 
three  are  gathered  together  in  my  name,  there 
I  am  in  the  midst  of  them;”  and  “Lo!  I  am 
with  you  always,  unto  the  end  of  the  world.” 

According  to  the  foregoing  exposition,  while 
the  physical  power  of  miracles*  was  manifested, 
perhaps,  in  a  less  degree  after  the  ascension  of 
Christ  than  before,  the  spiritual  power  of  truth 
in  the  souls  of  men  was  in  all  senses  greatly 

*  It  cannot  be  questioned  that  miracles  were  necessary  to  moral 
progress  in  the  time  of  Christ.  No  truth,  as  from  God,  could 
have  been  received  without  them.  All  men  believed  that  their 
divinities  granted  power  to  their  votaries  to  work  miracles.  Either 
the  new  religion  must  be  introduced  by  miracles,  or  God  must,  by 
miracle,  destroy  the  conviction  in  all  minds  that  miracles  could 
be  wrought.  In  that  age  a  miracle  was  the  only  means  of  con¬ 
necting  the  authority  of  God  with  truth.  I  must  believe  the  facts 
stated  as  miracles,  but  how  the  effects  were  produced ,  whether 
subjectively  in  the  minds  of  the  witnesses  —  whether  in  accord¬ 
ance  with,  or  by  control  of  natural  laws  is  not  important.  The 
effect  of  the  miracle,  not  the  form,  was  the  ?iecessity.  [See 
Phil,  of  Plan  of  Salvation,  Chapter  iii.] 


THE  HOL  Y  SPIRIT. 


67 


increased.  At  the  advent  of  the  Spirit,  on  the 
day  of  Pentecost,  a  mighty  work  of  love  and 
power  began  in  the  world,  the  energy  and  glory 
of  which  will  not  end  until  the  “kingdoms  of 
this  world  shall  become  the  kingdoms  of  our 
Lord  and  his  Christ,  and  he  shall  reign  for 
ever  and  ever.” 

§  23. —  The  endowment  of  the  apostles  with  special 
powers  and  prerogatives. 

After  the  Redeemer  had,  “  by  the  Holy  Grhost , 
given  commandments  to  his  apostles ,”  immediately 
previous  to  His  ascension,  He  gave  them  their 
commission,  accompanied  by  the  promise  of  His 
presence  and  supervision  in  the  great  endeavor 
to  bring  the  world  to  believe  in  Him  as  the 
manifestation  of  the  true  God — “Go  ye  there¬ 
fore  and  teach  all  nations,  baptizing  them  into 
the  [one]  name  *  of  the  Father,  the  Son,  and 
the  Holy  Ghost;  teaching  them  to  observe  all 
'  things  whatsoever  I  have  commanded  you ;  and 

*  The  “ one  name,”  including  all  the  attributes  and  qualities 
of  the  three  personalities,  the  Father,  Son,  Holy  Ghost.  By 
one  conception  of  our  finite  minds  we  cannot  compass  God  in 
all  FI  is  relations  to  us.  God  is  what  the  three  conceptions  — 
Father  —  Son  —  Holy  Spirit,  united,  reveal  Him  to  be. 


68 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF 


lo !  I  am  with  you  always,  even  unto  the  end 
of  the  dispensation.” 

At  the  appointed  time  and  place,  the  promise 
that  they  should  be  endowed  for  their  work  by 
a  supernatural  manifestation  of  the  Holy  Spirit 
was  fulfilled.  Acts  ii,  1-4  —  “When  the  day  of 
Pentecost  was  fully  come,  they  were  all  with 
one  accord  in  one  place.  And  suddenly  there 
came  a  sound  from  Heaven  as  of  a  rushing 
mighty  wind,  and  it  filled  the  house  where  they 
were  sitting.  And  there  appeared  unto  them 
cloven  tongues  like  as  of  fire,  and  it  sat  upon 
each  of  them.  And  they  were  all  filled  with  the 
Holy  G-host ,  and  began  to  speak  with  tongues 
as  the  spirit  gave  them  utterance.”  When  thus 
“baptized  with  the  Holy  Ghost,”  they  w~ere  at 
once  endowed  with  impulse,  courage,  and  spirit¬ 
ual  insight,  which  they  did  not  possess  before ; 
and  it  may  be  that  the  tongues  that  sat  upon 
them  gave  their  thoughts  articulation  on  this 
special  occasion,  so  that  the  strangers  from  for¬ 
eign  cities  present  in  Jerusalem,  each  heard  the 
speaker’s  thoughts  enunciated  in  his  own  lan¬ 
guage.  Hence  immediate  and  immense  impression 
was  produced.  The  work  of  the  world’s  regen¬ 
eration  was  begun.  Many  priests  and  people  of 


THE  IIOL  Y  SPIRIT. 


69 


Jerusalem,  together  with  a  multitude  from  foreign 
cities,  became  subject  to  the  faith.  The  supreme 
council  of  the  nation  was  agitated  and  divided, 
and  there  was  neither  policy  nor  power  that 
could  suppress  the  progress  of  the  new  life. 

The  apostles,  before  dull  and  literal  in  their 
sense,  had  now  a  clear  apprehension  of  the  spirit¬ 
ual  nature  of  Christ’s  mission,  and  of  the  ap¬ 
proaching  dissolution  of  the  local  and  imperfect* 
ritual  of  Moses.  For  declaring  the  abrogation  of 
the  Mosaic  economy,  Stephen  was  put  to  death, 
as  his  Maste  had  been  before,  by  the  malice  of 
the  rulers.  The  witnesses  suborned  against  him 
said  (Acts  vi,  13,  14),  “  This  man  ceaseth  not 
to  speak  blasphemous  words  against  this  holy 
place,  and  the  law:  for  we  have  heard  him  say, 
that  this  Jesus  of  Nazareth  shall  destroy  this 
place,  and  change  the  rites  which  Moses  delivered 
us.” 

The  apostles  were  thus  evidently  endowed  not 
only  with  an  understanding  of  the  spiritual  mis¬ 
sion  of  Christ,  but  likewise  with  a  knowledge 
in  some  respects  of  the  future  purposes  of  God, 

*  “  Imperfect,”  not  in  its  adaptation  to  its  place  and  work 
as  an  introductory  dispensation,  but  imperfect  in  light,  love,  and 
righteousness.  “Grace  and  truth  are  by  Jesus  Christ.” 


70 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF 


although  they  may  not  have  known  the  form 
nor  the  precise  time  in  which  those  purposes 
would  he  accomplished.  When,  therefore,  the 
Gospel  had  been  preached,  “  first  at  Jerusalem, 
and  Judea,  and  Samaria,”  the  disciples  were,  by 
persecution,  “  scattered  abroad,”  in  order  that  the 
truth  they  taught  might  be  carried  u  to  the  ends 
of  the  earth.”  Saul  of  Tarsus,  who  had  held 
the  clothes  of  those  who  stoned  Stephen,  was 
converted.  The  college  of  apostles  was  complete. 
The  partition  wall  between  the  Jews  and  Gentiles, 
as  indicated  to  Peter  in  a  vision,  was  broken 
down,  and  the  streams  of  Gospel  light  and  life 
flowed  out  to  the  Gentiles. 


§  24. — The  apostles  affirm  their  consciousness  of 

special  endowment . 

The  apostles  constantly  claimed  that  God  by 
His  Spirit  was  present  in  their  endeavors.  Hence 
the  sin  of  Ananias  and  Sapphira  was  declared 
to  be  sin  against  the  Spirit  of  God.  They 
“  preached  the  Gospel  ivith  the  IToly  Ghost  sent 
dozen  from  heaven and  claimed  distinctly  to 
speak  by  inspiration  of  the  Spirit.  1  Cor.  ii,  12, 
13, — “  Now  we  have  received,  not  the  spirit  of 


< 


TIIE  HOL  Y  SPIRIT. 


71 


the  world,  but  the  spirit  that  is  of  God ;  that 
we  might  know  the  things  that  are  freely  given 
to  us  of  God.  Which  things  also  we  speak,  not 
in  the  words  which  man’s  wisdom  teacheth,  but 
which  the  Holy  Ghost  teacheth ;  comparing  spirit¬ 
ual  things  with  spiritual.”  They  understood, 
likewise,  the  doctrine  propounded  in  the  pre¬ 
ceding  sections.  The  Holy  Spirit  in  their  minds 
was  the  same  as  Christ  in  them.  “  It  pleased 
Grod ,”  says  Paul  (Gal.  i,  16),  “  to  reveal  his  Son 
in  me,  that  I  might  preach  him  among  the  Gen¬ 
tiles.”*  To  those  whom  they  ordained,  they  said 
(2  Tim.  i,  14),  “  That  good  thing  which  was 
committed  unto  thee,  keep  by  the  Holy  Ghost 
which  dwelleth  in  us.”  By  the  laying  on  of 
hands,f  by  those  who  possessed  the  Spirit,  they 
claimed  that  the  Spirit  was  communicated  to 
others.  And  in  addressing  the  epistles  to  the 

*  A  revelation  of  Christ  in  the  soul  by  the  Spirit  was  neces¬ 
sary  in  the  early  period  in  order  to  preach  the  gospel ;  should 
it  not  be  so  in  all  periods  of  the  church  ? 

f  The  doctrine  of  the  laying  on  of  hands  will  be  better 
understood  hereafter.  When  the  power  of  the  Holy  Spirit  en¬ 
ergizes  in  the  souls  of  administrators,  its  communication  to  others 
will  be  more  apparent  than  it  ordinarily  is  in  the  present  age. 
Apostolic  succession  is  by  the  Holy  Spirit.  Laying  on  of  hands 
in  this  sense  is  a  cardinal  doctrine  (Heb.  vi,  2). 


72 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF 


seven  churches  of  Asia,  and  through  them  to  the 
churches  in  later  ages,  it  is  written,  “  Hear  what 
the  Spirit  saith  unto  the  churches.” 

Thus,  the  internal  consciousness  of  the  apostles 
was  true  to  the  external  manifestation.  u  The 
Holy  Ghost  was  witness  for  them while  they 
accomplished  their  work  “  by  signs  and  wonders, 
and  divers  miracles,  and  gifts  of  the  Holy  Ghost, 
according  to  his  will.”  * 


§  25. —  The  providence  of  God  working  together 
with  the  Spirit  in  furthering  the  Gospel  by 
the  instrumentality  of  the  apostles. 

It  has  been  shown,  we  think  beyond  doubt,  in 
the  preceding  chapters  of  this  series  of  books, 
that  the  Divine  energy,  operating  through  all 
ages  and  dispensations,  wrought  to  an  end  fore¬ 
seen  from  the  beginning ;  that  God  is  accom¬ 
plishing  a  plan  in  the  earth,  established  upon 
fixed  principles  and  developed  by  fixed  laws ;  a 
plan  which  unites  the  kingdoms  of  nature  with 
each  other  —  the  physical  with  the  moral;  a  plan 
which  extends  itself  from  the  form  and  propor- 


*  Hcb.  ii,  4. 


THE  HOL  Y  SPIRIT. 


73 


tions  of  the  original  atoms  of  matter,  onward  to 
the  moral  creation  in  man  ;  and  onward  still  until 
it  shall  ultimate  in  a  perfect  physical  and  moral 
condition  beyond  the  present.*  Jesus  said,  “My 
Father  worketh  hitherto,  and  I  work.”  I  came 
“  to  finish  the  work  which  the  Father  hath  given 
me  to  do” — i,  e .,  to  fulfill  the  ritual  of  Moses, 
put  an  end  to  its  burdens,  and  develop  its  lim¬ 
ited  economy  into  the  final  spiritual  dispensation 
of  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Ghost. 

Hence  the  Divine  Providence  and  the  Divine 
Spirit  were  co-workers  in  the  spread  of  the  gos- 
pel.f  Events  so  transpired,  by  Divine  interposi¬ 
tion,  that  the  knowledge  of  truth  was  advanced, 
whether  the  providence,  in  a  temporal  sense,  wras 
propitious  or  otherwise.  The  apostles  became 
witnesses  at  Jerusalem,  at  Samaria,  and  to  the 
Gentiles.  When  their  work  was  done  at  Jeru¬ 
salem  they  were,  by  the  providence  of  God,  dis- 

*  See  “  God  revealed  in  the  Process  of  Creation,  and  by  the 
Manifestation  of  Christ.” —  Book  I. 

•j-  When  Jesus  commissioned  His  disciples  and  sent  them  forth 
to  preach  the  gospel,  He  said,  “  All  power  in  heaven  and  on 
earth  is  given  unto  me.”  And  those  who  have  eyes  to  see  can 
discern  the  providence  of  God  working  with  the  truth  of  the 
gospel  in  producing  the  moral  progress  of  the  race. 


74 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF 


0 

persed  throughout  Judea  and  Asia  Minor.  Saul 

aided  to  banish  and  scatter  the  witnesses,  and 

<• 

thus,  as  a  persecutor,  his  agency  was  overruled 
to  accomplish  the  same  object  which  he  after¬ 
wards  voluntarily  accomplished  as  an  apostle. 
When  the  work  was  mostly  done  with  the  Jews, 
the  case  of  Cornelius,  and  other  like  incidents, 
introduced  thoughtful  Gentiles  into  the  gospel 
kingdom.  Even  the  honest  difference  of  Paul 
and  Barnabas — who,  by  the  dictation  of  the  Spirit , 
had  been  sent  out  as  missionaries  from  the  Church 
at  Antioch — was  made  a  means  of  disseminating 
more  widely  the  truth  among  both  Jews  and 
Gentiles  in  Europe  and  Asia.  The  public  trials 
of  the  apostles  before  magistrates,  and  their  prov¬ 
idential  deliverances,  tended  to  the  same  end. 
In  such  cases  provision  was  made  for  their  special 
guidance ;  and  they  were  instructed  to  depend  on 
the  interposition  by  the  Spirit  in  their  minds. 
Mark  xiii,  11,  —  “  Take  no  thought  beforehand, 
neither  premeditate  :*  but  whatsoever  shall  be 
given  you  in  that  hour,  that  speak  ye  :  for 

*  The  law  of  suggestion  is  so  compact  in  men  of  cold  tem¬ 
perament  and  wary  mind,  —  thought  is  so  collated  by  caution 
and  premeditation,  that  there  seems  often  no  room  for  even  the 
Holy  Spirit  to  interpose  a  suggestion. 


THE  HOLY  SPIRIT. 


75 


it  is  not  yon  that  speak,  but  the  Holy  Grhost” 
Hence,  by  natural  and  connected  incidents,  in 
which  the  blind  could  see  no  providence,  Paul 
was  brought  before  the  rulers  at  Jerusalem,  at 
Caesarea,  in  the  Islands  of  the  Sea,  at  Rome ;  all 
in  accordance  with  the  pre-statement  in  his  com¬ 
mission,  in  regard  to  the  class  before  which  he 
should  testify,  and  the  manner  in  which,  during 
his  ministry,  he  should  glorify  God. 

In  the  imprisonments  of  the  apostle,  too,  the 
design  of  God  was  especially  propitious.  The 
most  precious  treatises,  inspired  and  uninspired, 
which  •  the  Church  possesses,  have  been  written 
in  prison.  We  could  not  do  without  the  Epistle 
to  the  Philippians,  nor  that  to  Timothy.  Nor 
could  we  well  spare  the  “  Pilgrim’s  Progress,” 
nor  the  prison  thoughts  of  Penn,  Baxter,  and 
other  holy  men  of  the  modern  age.  The  devil, 
by  casting  saints  into  prison,*  has  aided  to  cast 
himself  out  of  the  Church  of  God.  Evil  is  made 
subservient  to  ultimate  good. 

But  not  only  in  regard  to  the  general  move- 

*  Rev.  ii,  io,  II,  —  “Fear  none  of  those  things  which  thou 
shalt  suffer.  Behold  the  devil  shall  cast  some  of  you  into 
prison,  and  ye  shall  have  tribulation  ten  days.  Be  thou  faith¬ 
ful  unto  death  and  I  will  give  thee  a  crown  of  life.” 


76 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF 


merits  of  the  apostles  in  the  cities  and  nations 
of  the  Old  World,  hut  likewise  in  the  time  and 
direction  of  their  travels,  and  in  their  personal 
efforts  for  the  conversion  of  individuals,  the  prov¬ 
idence  and  Spirit  of  Christ  combined  to  guide 
their  agency.  If  they  devised  plans  contrary  to 
the  Divine  plan,  they  were  prevented  from  ful¬ 
filling  them.  Acts  xvi,  6  —  “  When  Paul  and 
Timothy  had  gone  through  Phrygia  and  the  re¬ 
gion  of  Galatia,  and  were  forbidden  of  the  Holy 
Grhost  to  preach  the  Word  in  Asia,  after  they 
were  come  to  Mysia,  they  essayed  to  go  into  By- 
thinia :  but  the  Holy  Spirit  suffered  them  not.” 
The  gospel  had  been  offered  and  urged  in  Asia 
so  far  as  the  preparation  of  the  people  and  the 
justice  and  mercy  of  God  at  that  time  required; 
hence  they  were  directed  by  a  vision  to  go  over 
into  Europe,  and  help  the  few  who  labored  to 
promote  gospel  interests  in  Macedonia. 

It  was  the  Spirit  (Acts  xi,  12)  that  bade  Peter 
visit  the  Roman  officer  at  Csesarea ,  and  in  order 
that  the  gospel  might  be  carried  into  Ethiopia, 
“  the  Spirit  said  unto  Philip,”  (Acts  viii,  29), 
“  Go  near  to  the  chariot  of  the  Eunuch,”  who, 
as  he  traveled,  read  in  the  prophecies  of  Isaiah 
(liii,  7,  8)  —  a  passage  foreshadowing  the  sacrifice 


THE  HOL  Y  SPIRIT. 


77 


of  Chvist.  The  disciple  thus  sent  by  the  Spirit 
was  invited  into  the  conveyance.  The  Eunuch 
was  instructed  and  baptized,  and  carried  the  gos¬ 
pel  in  his  heart  into  the  midst  of  Ethiopia.  The 
appointed  work  of  the  deacon  being  thus  done, 
the  “  Spirit  caught  away  Philip ,  who  was  found 
at  Azotus ;  and  passing  through,  he  preached  in 
all  the  cities  until  he  came  to  Caesarea.” 

Thus  “  filled  with  the  Spirit,”  and  guided  by 

m 

providence,  the  apostles  of  Christ  fulfilled  their 
mission;  —  preaching  the  gospel  of  the  kingdom 
in  “ demonstration  of  the  Spirit ,  and  with  power;” 
gathering  churches ;  “  ordaining  elders  in  every 
city  j”  and  writing  letters  to  guide  the  life  and 
perfect  the  work  of  righteousness  in  the  minds 
of  believers.  The  summing-up  of  their  life-labor, 
as  it  stood  related  to  God  and  men,  is  striking 
and  instructive.  .2  Cor.  vi,  4-10, — “In  all  things 
approving  ourselves  as  the  ministers  of  God,  in 
much  patience,  in  afflictions,  in  necessities,  in 
distresses,  in  stripes,  in  imprisonments,  in  tumults, 
in  labors,  in  watchings,  in  fastings ;  —  by  pure¬ 
ness,  by  knowledge,  by  long  suffering,  by  kind¬ 
ness,  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  by  love  unfeigned,  by 
the  word  of  truth,  by  the  power  of  God,  by  the 
armor  of  righteousness  on  the  right  hand  and  on 


T8 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF 


tKe  left,  by  honor  and  dishonor,  by  evil  report 
and  good  report ;  as  deceivers,  and  yet  true  ; 
as  unknown,  and  yet  well  known ;  as  dying,  and 
behold  we  live ;  as  chastened,  and  not  killed , 
*  as  sorrowful,  yet  alway  rejoicing ;  as  poor,  yet 
making  many  rich :  as  having  nothing,  and  yet 
possessing  all  things.” 

Behold  how  the  commissioned  apostles  of  Jesus 
Christ  “  fought  the  good  fight  of  faith,”  until 
they  “  finished  their  course,”  sealed  their  testi¬ 
mony  with  their  blood,  and  departed  to  be  with 
Christ.  They  rest  from  their  labors,  but  their 
fruit  remaineth.  “  Being  dead,  they  yet  speak,” 
and  their  words  are  still  rendered  efficacious  by 
the  power  of  the  Holy  Ghost  to  enlighten  and 
sanctify  the  souls  of  men ;  and  those  who  have 
ears  to  hear  still  hear  them  preaching  “  Christ 
CRUCIFIED  ;  THE  POWER  OF  GOD,  AND  THE  WIS¬ 
DOM  of  God,  to  the  salvation  of  every  one 


THAT  BELIE VETH. 


THE  HOL  Y  SPIRIT. 


79 


CHAPTER  Y. 


THE  UNION  OF  THE  ¥OED  AND  SPIRIT  IN  THE 
PROCESS  OF  SANCTIFICATION. 

We  have  seen  that  Christ  revealed  the  rule  of 
human  duty,  both  in  precept  and  example,  and 
that  no  rule  of  life  for  men  can  be  perfect  with¬ 
out  both  of  these.*  And  having  given  the  rule 
and  manifested  perfectly  the  Divine  character,  in 
closing  His  mission,  He  promised  that  after  His 
ascension  “  the  Holy  Spirit,  which  proceedeth  from 
the  Father,”  would  be  given,  through  Him,  to 
lead  the  chosen  witnesses  into  all  truth,  and  to 
endow  them  with  spiritual  insight,  and  power 
from  on  High.  And  in  this  the  great  promise 
was  fulfilled,  that  He  would  be  with  them  until 
the  end  of  the  world,  to  supervise  and  to  sus¬ 
tain  them  in  their  work.  We  have  seen  these 
promises  accomplished  in  the  conscious  experience 


*  See  “Philosophy  of  Plan  of  Salvation,”  chap.  x. 


80 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF 


of  the  apostles,  and  by  the  providence  and  the 
spiritual  power  connected  with  their  mission. 
They  went  every  where  “  preaching  the  gospel 
with  the  Holy  Ghost  sent  down  from  heaven.” 
We  come  now  to  inquire  concerning  the  relations 
of  the  Word  and  Spirit  in  the  work  of  human 
salvation. 

§  26.  —  Does  an  increase  of  light  imply  an  increase 

of  spiritual  power  ? 

Man,  m  order  to  eternal  life,  needs  two  things, 
— Truth  and  Love, —  Light  and  Life, — Word  and 
Spirit.  Christ  came  a  light  into  the  world,  re¬ 
vealing  a  standard  of  life  which  was  above  the 
natural ;  and  to  which,  therefore,  the  natural  mind 
was  apathetic  and  averse.*  Perhaps  this  “  higher 
law”  implied  an  advanced  dispensation  of  the 
Spirit,  in  order  that  man  might  be  able  to  ap¬ 
preciate  and  obey  it.  Hence,  in  order  to  con¬ 
formity  to  the  new  standard  of  duty,  man  is  to 

i 

be  “  born  again  from  above.”  He  becomes  “  a 
new  creature  in  Christ  Jesus,”  who  is  the  head 

of  a  new  species  of  humanity.  The  germs  of  all 

* 

*  “  That  which  is  born  of  the  flesh,  is  flesh  ”  —  “  is  of  the 
earth,  earthy.” 


THE  HOL  Y  SPIRIT 


81 


new  species  are  by  Divine  interposition.  Hence 
tlie  income  of  the  Word  and  the  Spirit  would 
be  in  the  order  of  the  Divine  working,  and  ac¬ 
cording  to  the  law  of  progressive  development. 

However  this  may  be  best  stated,  it  is  an  ad¬ 
mitted  truth,  that  with  the  increased  light  of  the 
Word,  which  required  a  higher  attainment  in 
moral  excellency,  there  came,  at  the  same  time, 
increased  life  and  strength  by  the  Holy  Spirit. 

Let  us  look,  then,  at  the  related  offices  of  the- 
Word  and  Spirit  as  revealed  in  the  Scriptures. 
We  will  consider  them  first  separately,  that  we 
may  the  better  understand  their  relations  to  each 
other,  and  the  necessity  of  their  union  in  the 
work  of  redemption. 


§  27. —  Of  the  Living  Word  as  a  rule  of  duty . 

We  assume  again,  what  has  been  elsewhere 
shown,*  that  precept  and  example  combined  is 
the  only  perfect  form  of  instruction ;  and  that 
-  example,  in  order  to  be  a  rule  of  duty  adapted 
to  human  beings,  must  be  a  human  example;  be¬ 
cause  men  could  not  follow  the  example  of  an 


*  Philosophy  of  Plan  of  Salvation,  chap.  x. 


82 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF 


angel,  nor  of  any  nature  different  from  their 
own. 

Now  the  apostles  understood  the  necessity  of 
the  incarnation  in  this  respect.  Christ’s  character, 
manifested  by  His  life,  was  the  model  into  which 
they  sought  to  mould  humanity.  He  was  44  the 
mark  of  the  prize  of  the  high  calling”  to  which 
they  struggled  to  attain,  while  they  invited  others 
to  the  same  endeavor. 

Jesus  said  (John  xvii,  18,  19),  44  As  the  Father 
hath  sent  me  into  the  world,  even  so  have  I  also 
sent  them  into  the  world.  And  for  their  sakes 
I  sanctify  myself,  that  they  also  might  be  sanc¬ 
tified,  through  the  truth.”  And  referring,  no 
doubt,  to  this  principle  —  perhaps  to  this  expres¬ 
sion —the  author  of  the  letter  to  the  Hebrews 
says  (ii,  10,  11),  “  For  it  became  him,  for  whom 
are  all  things,  and  by  whom  are  all  things,  in 
bringing  many  sons  unto  glory,  to  make  the  cap¬ 
tain  of  their  salvation  perfect  through  suffering. 
For  both  he  that  sanctifieth  and  they  who  are 
sanctified  are  all  of  one  ;  for  which  cause  he  is 
not  ashamed  to  call  them  brethren.”  That  is, 
Christ  assumed  a  sanctified  humanity  in  order 
that  His  followers  might  be  sanctified  by  con¬ 
formity  to  His  image.  Hence  He  was  44  not 


THE  HOL  Y  SPIRIT. 


83 


ashamed  to  call  them  brethren.”  They  were,  by 
assimilation  to  His  life  and  spirit,  raised  from 
the  sphere  of  the  earthly,  mortal,  Adamic  species, 
into  the  sphere  of  a  new  spiritual  life,  of  which 
Christ  was  Himself  the  head  and  elder  brother. 


§  28. — Necessity  in  reason  for  a  perfect  rule  of 

human  duty. 

There  is  a  reason  in  the  nature  of  man  re- 

i 

quiring  the  revelation  of  a  perfect  rule  of  duty. 
It  is  not  onlv  true  that  man  had  lost  the  knowl- 
edge  of  both  the  true  God  and  the  true  man, 
and  could  therefore  settle  no  rule  of  duty  for 
himself  in  regard  to  either ;  but  it  is  further 
true,  that  in  the  absence  of  a  perfect  rule  of 
righteousness,  and  often  in  its  presence,  there  is 
that  in  man  which  leads  him  to  establish  for 
himself  an  imperfect  standard  of  life.  Man,  by 
an  impulse  of  his  nature,  always  measures  himself 
by  some  standard  of  character,  and  judges  him¬ 
self  thereby,  and  the  main  difficulty  which  hinders 
moral  progress  is,  that  men  are  prone  to  measure 
themselves  by  standards  that  will  produce  within 
them  a  sense  of  self-complacency  rather  than  of 
conviction  of  sin.  Even  malefactors,  who  live  in 


84 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF 


communities,  have  a  standard  of  character  among 
themselves  by  which  they  seek  and  obtain  honor 
one  of  another.  And  from  the  outlaw  up  to  the 
moral  citizen  of  good  natural  qualities,  each  one 
has  some  ideal  standard  by  which  he  judges  of 
himself.  The  moralist  usually  compares  himself 
with  some  professor  of  religion,  whose  character 
he  deems  to  be  no  better,  or  even  worse  than 
his  own.  This  comparison  gives  him  a  feeling 
of  ease  and  self-complacency.  Instead  of  stimu¬ 
lating,  it  prevents  moral  progress.  Hence  the 
more  moral  the  character  of  any  one  may  be 
who  does  not  receive  Christ  as  the  standard  by 
which  he  judges  himself,  the  more  difficult  it 
will  be  for  him  to  have  a  sense  of  sin  and  of 
personal  unworthiness.  His  measurement  of  him¬ 
self  by  the  life  of  other  imperfect  persons  pro¬ 
duces  a  spirit  just  the  opposite  of  that  which 
he  should  possess,  and  which  he  would  possess 
if  he  measured  himself  by  the  Divine  standard  of 
human  character.  If  he  measured  his  character, 
and  judged  his  motives  by  the  unselfish  life  of 
Jesus,  he  would  see  his  sinfulnessVand  feel  con¬ 
trite  and  penitent ;  but  measuring  himself  by 
false  and  imperfect  standards,  he  deceives  him¬ 
self,  and  must  remain  unhumbled  and  self-justi- 


THE  HOL  Y  SPIRIT. 


85 


fiecl.  Men  are  often  unconscious  of  the  fact ;  but 
the  disposition  “to  measure  themselves  by  them¬ 
selves”  is  natural  to  every  human  mind.  And 
every  one  who  thus  estimates  his  own  moral 
character  by  a  comparison  with  others,  will  re¬ 
main  self-justified  and  self-deceived  until  he  dies. 

And  not  only  the  unprofessing  world,  but  the 
professed  followers  of  Christ,  by  “measuring  them¬ 
selves  among  themselves,  and  comparing  them¬ 
selves  by  themselves,  are  not  wise.”  They  satisfy 
themselves  with  the  forms  of  piety,  while  they 
possess  neither  gospel  faith  nor  gospel  practice. 
They  justify  their  own  sin  by  the  sin  of  some 
other,  and  thus  accumulate  the  sins  of  many 
others  in  their  own  character.  This  is  unwise 
and  wicked.  A  false  standard  of  judgment  neces¬ 
sarily  causes  men  to  form  a  false  estimate  of 
themselves.  Paul  said  he  dare  not  be  of  the 
number  who  thus  deceived  themselves ;  nor  would 
he  compare  himself  with  any  standard  except 
“  the  measure  of  the  rule  which  Christ  had  ex¬ 
tended  to  him.” 

Now  in  Christ  a  true  rule  of  duty  is  provided, 
by  which  if  any  man  measure  himself,  he  will 
see  his  character  as  it  really  is  in  the  sight  of 
God.  If  a  carpenter  were  to  measure  his  work 


86 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF 


by  a  false  rule,  when  a  true  one  was  offered 
and  urged  upon  him,  he  would  be  at  the  same 
time  a  fool  and  a  sinner ;  and  in  the  end  both 
he  and  his  work  would  be  condemned.  So  all 
individuals  who  measure  themselves  and  judge 
of  themselves  by  a  false  moral  standard,  in  the 
presence  of  the  true  one,  must  be  condemned 
when  the  true  rule  of  judgment  is  applied  to 
the  work  of  their  life.  To  meet  this  appetency 
of  the  mind,  the  Divine  standard  in  the  example 
and  precept  of  Christ  is  provided,  and,  whether 
we  are  willing  to  judge  oufselves  by  it  or  not, 
God  will  judge  us  by  it.  A  government  does 
not  judge  men  by  their  own  factitious  standards, 
but  always  by  its  own  published  rule  of  duty. 
So  God  will  judge  the  world  by  Jesus  Christ.* 
“  The  words  which  he  has  spoken  unto  us  wrill 
judge  us  at  the  last  day.”  f 

§  29. — A  perfect  rule  of  life  the  only  principle  of 

moral  progress. 

A  perfect  standard  of  life  and  motive,  in  the 
light  of  which  men  may  see  their  moral  delin¬ 
quencies,  is  a  necessity  in  moral  government.  It 


*  Acts  xvii,  31. 


f  John  xii,  48. 


THE  HOL  Y  SPIRIT. 


87 


is  one  of  tlie  essential  requisites  by  which  alone 
moral  progress  can  be  promoted  among  men.  A 
sense  of  present  imperfection  is  an  absolute  pre¬ 
requisite  to  moral  advancement.  A  man  can 
have  no  impulse  from  his  conscience  or  his  rea¬ 
son  to  go  forward  to  higher  moral  attainments 
unless  he  sees  and  feels  present  deficiencies  in 
himself ;  and  this  he  can  see  only  in  the  light 
of  a  standard  that  is  above  his  present  character, 
and  by  which  his  present  condition  is  condemned; 
while  he  is  at  the  same  time  invited  and  en¬ 
couraged  to  rise  to  a  higher  sphere  of  life. 

And,  furthermore,  in  order  to  the  perfection 
of  moral  beings,  this  standard  must  be  such  a 
one,  that  while  it  approves  and  stimulates  the 
upward  effort,  yet  it  is  not  attained  at  any  point 
short  of  moral  completeness  of  human  character. 
Whenever  the  soul  reaches  a  point  that  there 
is  no  standard  to  convict  it  of  imperfection,  its 
further  attainment  is  impossible,  because  conscience 
and  reason,  instead  of  prompting  it  forward,  would 
require  its  quiescence  in  its  present  moral  con¬ 
dition.*  Hence,  until  men  are  “  holy  as  God  is 

*  Thus  Pagan  nations,  as  China  and  India,  have  made  no 
progress  for  a  thousand  years.  They  can  not  rise  above  their 
standards.  Christian  nations  will  make  constant  progress,  be- 


88 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF 


holy,”  the  character  of  Christ  will  furnish  a 
standard  that  will  convict  them  of  sin,  and  thus 
give  impulse  to  moral  progress. 

Upon  this  “  mark  of  the  prize  of  the  high 
calling  of  God  in  Christ  Jesus”  the  Christian 
fixes  his  eye ;  and  as  he  advances  he  finds  Christ 
ever  before  him.  In  the  light  of  a  perfect  ex¬ 
ample  he  sees  his  defects  in  motive,  in  practice, 
and  in  spirit ;  and  yet  the  infinite  love  of  the 
Divine  Guide  strengthens  and  encourages  those 
who  follow  Him  in  labor  for  the  temporal  and 
spiritual  good  of  men.  As  an  artist  aiming  to 
copy  a  perfect  picture  —  the  excellence  of  the 
model  elevates  his  aim  at  the  same  time  that  it 
inspires  his  endeavors.  And  if  the  patron  of  the 
artist  bestows  his  highest  reward  for  the  best 
exertion  of  the  disciple,  then,  whatsoever  degree 
of  perfection  he  may  attain,  while  he  will  be 
humbled  by  comparing  his  work  with  that  of 
the  master,  yet  his  labor  will  be  happy  in  its 

cause  their  standard  in  Christ  Jesus  is  always  above  them. 
Some  churches  have  been  anchored  back  in  the  shadows  of  the 
dark  ages  by  creeds  written  in  past  periods.  And  even  in  the 
present  age  there  were  those  in  the  enlightened  council  which 
assembled  in  Boston,  in  June,  1865,  who  desired  to  repudiate 
the  principle  of  John  Robinson,  that  knowledge  of  Holy  Scrip¬ 
ture  is  progressive. 


THE  HOL  Y  SPIRIT. 


89 


progress  and  happy  in  its  completion.  So  the 
Christian  has  hope  and  favor  by  the  way ;  and 
while  he  is  humbled  by  a  sense  of  his  imper¬ 
fection,  yet  he  knows  that  “  his  labors  for  con¬ 
formity  to  the  image  of  Christ  are  not  in  vain 
in  the  Lord.” 

§  30. — The  truth  being  given  in  the  life  and  precept 
of  Christ ,  the  second  necessary  thing  is  the  work 
of  the  Spirit. 

A  perfect  rule  of  duty  may  be  given,  but  to 
know  the  truth  is  not  to  love  it,  nor  to  do  it. 
Approbation  of  the  law  does  not  always  produce 
obedience  to  the  law,  nor  love  to  the  law-giver. 
Knowledge  increases  guilt,  if  the  truth  be  not 
obeyed :  hence  the  most  intelligent  men  are  some¬ 
times  the  most  base  and  selfish. 

Man  is  a  being  of  moral  as  well  as  of  intel¬ 
lectual  powers.  He  not  only  has  intelligence  to 
know  the  truth,  but  he  has  conscience  and  af¬ 
fections  ;  and  it  is  the  life  and  impulse  of  these 
that  give  the  truth  power  with  the  will.  Men 
may,  by  an  effort  of  intellect,  enlighten  each 
other.  They  may  change  each  others  opinions  in 

regard  to  the  truth  of  the  Christian  religion. 

12  * 


90 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF 


But  in  all  merely  intellectual  changes,  the  heart 
or  disposition  remains  the  same.  Correct  opinions 
are  in  order  to  correct  morals,  but  a  man’s 
opinions  may  be  right,  while  his  heart  and  life 
are  wrong.  Colton  wrote  more  moral  precepts 
than  any  man  of  his  time,  and  violated  them  all. 
We  can  put  truth  into  the  mind  of  our  fellow- 
man  no  farther  than  the  understanding.  We 
can  not  reach  the  moral  nature  by  light  alone. 
When  one  man  changes  the  opinions  of  another 
on  moral  subjects,  something  is  accomplished ; 
but  to  give  a  disposition  to  love  and  obey  truth 
is  a  different  thing.  The  Holy  Spirit  alone  sinks 
the  truth  through  the  intelligence  into  the  con¬ 
science  and  the  affections.  * 

Truth  is  light,  but  it  is  not  life.  Alone  it  is 
like  the  sun  in  winter  —  it  shines  but  to  en¬ 
lighten  a  dead,  cold  earth.  With  the  Spirit,  it 
is  like  the  sun'  in  summer  —  it  shines  with  life 
in  its  light ,  vivifying  nature  and  producing  blade, 
flower  and  fruitage.  So  the  light  of  divine  truth 
shines  in  the  darkness  of  the  natural  mind,  and 
the  darkness  appreciates  it  not,  until  by  the 
Spirit  it  becomes  “  spirit  and  life”  to  the  soul. 
“  In  him  was  life,  and  that  life  was  the  light 
of  men.”  Christ,  as  the  sun  of  righteousness, 
shines  into  believing  hearts  with  life  in  His  light. 


THE  HOL  V  SPIRIT. 


91 


§  31.  —  Rationale  of  the  Spirit's  operation  in 
connection  with  the  truth. 

Truth  never  gives  life  to  the  heart  and  con¬ 
science  so  that  they  are  empowered  to  govern 
the  will,  unless  there  be  a  sense  of  God  in  it. 
This  fact  is  verified  in  all  history,  as  well  as  in 
the  experience  of  individual  men.  The  sages  of 
antiquity  perceived  and  announced  many  moral 
truths  of  the  highest  value, —  some  of  them  syn¬ 
onymous  with  those  of  the  New  Testament.  But 
what  care  men  for  moral  truth  when  it  is  uttered 
only  by  one  whom  they  esteem  as  a  fellow- 
mortal  equal  with  themselves  —  one  wTho  has  no 
authority  to  prescribe  duty  or  to  command  obe¬ 
dience  ?  Of  what  avail,  in  a  moral  estimate,  was 
the  wisdom  of  Plato,  or  the  morals  of  Socrates, 
Seneca,  or  Tully !  The  moral  precepts  of  Seneca 
were  given  to  the  Romans  at  the  same  time  with 
those  of  Christ ;  in  an  age  when  the  highest 
intelligence  co-existed  in  the  empire  with  the 
greatest  profligacy.  Seneca’s  morals  had  no  more 
influence  upon  the  character  of  those  who  re¬ 
ceived  and  believed  them  than  they  had  upon 
the  statues  in  the  Pantheon.  Seneca  himself  was 
accused  of  profligacy ;  and  he  was  both  the  in- 


92 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF 


s tractor  and  victim  of  the  worst  of  the  Romans. 
The  people  believed  his  teachings  and  grew 
worse,  while  those  who  believed  the  teachings 
of  the  gospel  in  the  same  age  grew  better.  The 
cause  of  this  difference  is  the  vital  point.  All 
experience  teaches  that  truth,  separate  from  a 
sense  of  the  authority  of  God,  does  not  become 
life  in  man’s  moral  nature.  It  has  no  efficacy 
to  quicken  the  conscience  or  to  purify  the  heart. 
There  is  no  moral  efficacy  even  in  inspired  truth, 
unless  the  soul  recognizes  in  it  the  will  and 
heart  of  God  in  regard  to  man.  The  words  of 
Jesus  had  rot  the  same  efficacy  before  the  ad¬ 
vent  of  the  Spirit  as  afterwards.  Jesus  taught, 
as  we  have  noticed,  why  this  was  so.  The 
God-sense  Avas  not  connected  Avith  Ilis  teaching 
in  the  mind  of  others  until  after  His  resurrec¬ 
tion  and  the  advent  of  the  Spirit ;  but  Avlien 
the  Holy  Ghost  came,  u  he  comunced  men  of 
sin,  righteousness,  and  judgment,”  because  He 
attached  the  authority  and  will  of  God  to  the 
life  and  teaching  of  Jesus.  While  they  vieAved 
Christ  as  a  man  like  themselves  they  felt  less 
sense  of  obligation ;  but  Avhen  God  became  con¬ 
nected  with  His  mission,  by  the  miraculous 
resurrection,  and  by  the  advent  of  the  Spirit, 


THE  HOL  Y  SPIRIT. 


93 


then  the  gospel  which  He  had  proclaimed  be¬ 
came,  to  every  one  that  believed,  the  hope  of  sal¬ 
vation,  and  the  rule  of  duty  and  of  judgment. 

We  are  anxious  that  the  reader  should  appre¬ 
hend  this  point  in  the  discussion.  But  we  may 
not  repeat  further  what  we  have  written  in 
other  connections.  We  re-affirm  the  principle 
that  God  has  so  constituted  the  soul  that  con¬ 
science  will  enforce  no  moral  duty  unless  it  sees 
God  in  it.  The  conscience  is  made  to  respond  to 
the  voice  of  Grod ,  as  moral  Ruler ,  and  it  will 
answer  to  no  other.  A  false  faith  may  pervert 
the  conscience  to  enforce  a  false  rule,  because 
faith  has  the  same  effect  upon  our  moral  powers 
as  knowledge:  but  this  only  proves  that  a  sense 
of  God  by  faith  is  the  natural  life  of  the  con¬ 
science,  and  that  there  is  no  other  power  to  en¬ 
force  truth  but  conscience.  It  proves  also  that 
revealed  truth,  or  truth  that  carries  the  author¬ 
ity  of  God  with  it,  is  an  absolute  necessity  in 
order  to  the  regeneration  of  men.  Truth,  by 
human  authority  alone,  can  not  accomplish  the 
end.  Hence  the  advent  of  the  Spirit  was  the 
great  promise,  because  it  gave  the  God-sense  to 
Christ’s  life  and  teaching.  The  apostles  did  not 
move  from  their  place  until  it  descended  upon 


94 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF 


them  :  then,  illumined  and  empowered,  they  went 
forth  (Epli.  hi,  9)  “  to  make  all  men  see  what 
is  the  fellowship  of  the  mystery,  which  from  the 
beginning  of  the  world  hath  been  hid  in  God, 
who  created  all  things  by  Jesus  Christ.” 


§  82. —  The  preceding  viezvs  illustrated  by  experience. 

V 

The  preceding  views  will  be  recognized  as 
verified  in  the  experience  of  most  persons.  A 
man  may  hear  the  truth  without  impression  at 
one  time,  and  yet,  at  another  time,  by  the  same 
truth ,  presented,  it  may  be,  in  a  more  feeble 
manner,  he  will  be  made  conscious  that  he  is  a 
sinner  in  the  sight  of  God.  In  such  cases,  if 
he  will  examine  his  exercises,  he  will  see  that 
it  is  the  sense  of  God’s  authority  in  connection 
with  truth,  which  gives  it  its  efficacy.  It  is  the 
same  mind  and  the  same  truth,  and  it  may  be 
the  same  instrumentality ;  but  in  one  case  it 
produces  no  effect,  except  an  intellectual  impres¬ 
sion,  in  the  other  it  produces  prayer,  penitence, 
and  reformation  of  life.  Experience  thus  verifies 
the  testimony  of  the  Bible,  that  the  spiritual 
sense  is  necessary  to  the  efficacy  of  Divine  truth. 


THE  HOL  Y  SPIRIT. 


95 


§  33. — The  sum  of  preceding  deductions. 

The  conscience  being  quickened  by  the  truth 
through  the  Spirit,  the  soul  is  awakened ;  the 
heart  being  affected  by  the  love  of  Christ,  as 
His  life  and  death  are  exhibited  by  the  Spirit, 
the  soul  is  converted ;  and  the  moral  and  emo¬ 
tional  nature  thus  vitalized,  act  upon  the  will, 
and  produce  obedience  by  influencing  it  into  har¬ 
mony  with  the  will  of  Christ.  When  conscience 
and  the  heart  thus  unite  their  power,  they  de¬ 
termine  the  will  potentially.  Conscience  enforces 
the  rule  of  righteousness  as  duty  to  God  —  the 
heart  induces  obedience  by  love  to  the  person 
whose  will  is  obeyed.  Hence,  as  the  rule  of 
righteousness  and  the  personal  will  of  Christ  are 
one ,  the  Redeemer  becomes  “the  way,  the  truth, 
and  the  life  to  every  one  that  belie veth.” 

This  revelation  of  the  rule  of  life  by  the  per¬ 
sonal  example  and  will  of  Christ  is  necessary  to 
satisfy  the  wants,  as  well  as  to  meet  the  nature 
of  the  soul ;  obedience  to  an  abstract  law ,  without 
the  recognition  of  a,  personal  will  in  that  law ,  can 
never  satisfy  the  heart.  It  is  absurd  to  talk,  as 
the  skeptics  do,  of  love  and  obedience  to  the 


96 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF 


laws  of  nature,  or  to  anything  impersonal.*  Af¬ 
fectionate  obedience,  as  we  have  noticed,  can  be 
exercised  only  towards  a  personal  being  who  has 
voluntarily,  and  in  view  of  our  wants,  exercised 
himself  in  goodness  towards  us.  The  man  who 
talks  about  a  “  religion  of  nature  ”  for  man,  has 
surely  not  studied  the  necessities  of  man's  moral 
nature.  There  can  be  no  affectionate  obedience 
to  a  superior  being,  except  in  view  of  the  char¬ 
acter  and  action  of  that  being  as  personally  re¬ 
lated  to  us.  As  man  is  made,  the  motive  to 
obedience  must  be  an  apprehension  of  the  char¬ 
acter  and  qualities  of  the  law-giver.  Hence  the 
Spirit  comes  to  us  in  the  name  of  Christ,  ex¬ 
hibiting  the  Father  in  the  person  of  the  Son, 
and  exhibiting  His  law  and  His  love  together 
as  prerogative  and  attribute  of  His  person.  Thus 
the  soul  finds  motive  in  Christ  for  affectionate 
obedience  to  Him  as  Lord  and  Saviour.  Oh,  the 
length,  and  the  breadth,  and  the  depth,  and  the 
height  of  that  Divine  wisdom  which  has  given 
the  rule  of  duty  in  connection  with  a  revelation 
of  love,  and  in  the  one  person  of  Christ ;  so 

*  See  note  on  Parker,  Emerson,  and  Transcendentalism  in 
Appendix. 


THE  HOL  Y  SPIRIT. 


97 


that  the  conscience  and  affections  unite  in  pro¬ 
ducing  love  to  the  Law-giver ! 

§  34. — The  union  of  the  Word  and  Spirit  necessary 
in  the  process  of  conviction  and  sanctification. 

In  one  sense  truth  gives  direction  without 
moral  impulse,  and  the  Spirit  gives  moral  im¬ 
pulse  without  direction.  There  are  multitudes 
who  sometimes  see  the  light  and  desire  to  obey, 
but  “  are  not  able.”  To  use  a  phraseology  com¬ 
mon  with  such,  “  they  have  no  heart.”  On  the 
contrary,  in  times  of  special  religious  interest  in 
any  community,  many  apparently  become  willing 
to  obey  who  have  no  right  apprehension  of  the 
example  of  Christ  as  the  rule  of  duty.  The 
truth  in  regard  to  the  evil  of  sin  in  the  sight 
of  God  is  felt  by  them.  The  conscience  awakes, 
the  man  in  a  sense  repents,  but  he  is  like  a 
blind  man  running  from  the  flames, —  he  runs  to 
stumble,  and  to  stop  he  knows  not  where.  The 
heart  of  the  man  dispossessed  of  evil  demons* 
was  swept  and  garnished, —  he  had  in  one  sense 
repented  from  sin,  but  his  mind,  although  “swept 
and  garnished,”  remained  unoccupied.  He  had 

*  Matt,  xii,  44. 

7 


98 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF 


not  enthroned  Christ  as  Lord  and  Saviour;  hence 
the  evil  returned  with  greater  power.  It  is  only 
when  faith  connects  the  precept  with  the  person 
of  Christ  —  His  law  with  His  love  —  that  both 
direction  and  impulse  are  given  to  the  will. 

There  is  often,  likewise,  in  the  minds  of  sin¬ 
cere  persons,  an  imperfect  apprehension  of  truth. 
The  character  of  Christ  may  be  perceived  truly 
in  one  regard,  and  imperfectly  in  another.  The 
devotee  may  have  faith  in  a  dying  Christ,  but 
little  apprehension  of  the  living  Christ  as  the 
rule  of  life ;  this  will  stir  his  emotions,  and  pro¬ 
duce  love  to  God  without  labor  for  men.  The 
Reformer  may  have  faith  in  the  life  of  Christ ; 
this  will  move  to  good  works,  but  such  works 
do  not  flow  from  that  love  which  purifies  the 
heart.  The  Sectarian  may  believe  in  a  creed 
rather  than  in  Christ ;  this  will  make  him  com¬ 
pass  sea  and  land  to  make  proselytes  to  a  sect 
rather  than  to  the  Saviour.  Hence  faith  in  the 
living  example  and  dying  love  of  Christ  are  both 
necessary.  A  living  conscience  and  heart  are  the 
only  true  motive-powers  in  the  service  of  God. 
These  are  awakened  by  a  sense  of  God  in  truth, 
and  by  Christ’s  suffering  in  the  flesh  for  us. 
Good  works  for  the  temporal  and  spiritual  good 


THE  HOL  Y  SPIRIT. 


99 


of  man  are  the  only  true  life, —  these  are  pro¬ 
duced  by  conformity  of  the  human  will  by  love 
to  the  will  of  Christ.  Thus  faith  in  Christ’s  life 
and  death  combined  gives  both  impulse  and  di¬ 
rection  to  the  religious  life.  And  unless  our 
motives  to  action  are  thus  drawn  from  Christ, 
the  impulse  and  end  of  our  life  must  be  in 
ourselves, —  our  works  will  be  “dead  works,” 
and  assimilation  to  the  Divine  image  can  not  be 
the  result  of  our  activity. 

§  35. — The  preceding  views  accord  ivith  the  rela¬ 
tions  of  the  Word  and  Spirit ,  as  they  exist  in 
both  the  finite  and  the  Infinite  mind. 

In  the  human  mind,  and  in  the  Divine  mind, 
as  presented  in  preceding  pages,  the  Word,  or 
Logos,  is  the  intelligence  —  the  conceived  and 
uttered  thought  or  outbirth  of  the  soul.  The 
Spirit  is  back  of  the  Word.  It  knows*  the  Word, 
and  uses  it  to  reveal  its  own  character  to  other 
minds,  so  far  as  it  designs  its  personal  character 
and  will  to  be  known.  It  is  thus  in  the  process 

*  I  Cor.  ii,  II, — “  For  what  man  knoweth  the  things  of  a 
man,  save  the  spirit  of  man  which  is  in  him  ?  even  so  the 
things  of  God  knoweth  no  man,  but  the  Spirit  of  God.” 


100 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF 


of  human  redemption  from  ignorance  and  sin : 
the  operation  of  the  Divine  mind,  and  the  rela¬ 
tion  and  manifestation  of  Word  and  Spirit,  are 
revealed  as  acting  in  accordance  with  this  con¬ 
stitutional  method  of  mental  development.  The 
Spirit  uses  the  Word  —  takes  of  its  manifesta¬ 
tion —  and  thus  through  the  Word,  and  by  the 
Word,  as  Messiah  or  Mediator,  reveals  God,  and 
redeems  those  who  believe.  Men  are  thus  “sanc¬ 
tified  by  the  Spirit  through  the  Truth,”  as  it 
was  lived,  spoken,  and  suffered  by  the  Son  of 
God. 


§  36. — The  'preceding  views  confirmed  by  the 
teaching  of  the  Scriptures. 

It  will  not  be  necessary  to  recite  in  this  sec¬ 
tion  all  the  various  passages  in  which  the  Word 
and  Spirit  are  spoken  of  in  their  related  efficacy. 
In  Scripture  the  Word  is  “  the  sword  of  the 
Spirit.”  Men  are  said  to  be  “  sanctified  by  the 
truth  through  the  Spirit.”  The  apostles  announce 
the  relation  frequently  and  clearly  ;  showing  that 
in  their  own  minds  the  subject  was  distinctly 
apprehended.  Peter,  in  exhorting  believers  to  the 
exercise  of  Christian  love,  says  (1  Peter  i,  22), 


THE  HOL  Y  SPIRIT. 


101 


“  Seeing  ye  have  purified  your  souls  in  obeying 
the  truth  through  the  Spirit  unto  unfeigned  love 
of  the  brethren,  see  that  ye  love  one  another 
with  a  pure  heart  fervently.”  This  is  the  im¬ 
port  of  the  whole  matter, —  by  the  Word  and 
Spirit  affectionate  obedience  is  produced  toward 
God,  and  fraternal  love  toward  men. 

So  the  same  general  view,  that  truth  in  the 
mind  is  a  pre-requisite  to  the  permanent  and 
perfect  work  of  the  Spirit,  is  set  forth  by  the 
Saviour  Himself  in  the  parable  of  the  sower. 
Matt,  xiii, — “  He  that  heareth  the  word  and  com- 
yrehendeth  it  not ,  straightway  the  evil  one  cometh 
and  catcheth  away  that  which  was  sown  in  his 
heart.  But  he  that  receiveth  seed  into  good 
ground  is  he  that  heareth  the  word,  and  under - 
standeth  it;  which  also  beareth  fruit,  and  bring- 
eth  forth,  some  an  hundredfold,  some  sixty,  some 
thirty.” 

A  reception  of  the  revealed  word  into  an  ap¬ 
preciative  mind  is  necessary  in  order  to  the  fruit 
of  obedience.  All  fanaticism  grows  out  of  a  dis¬ 
severance  of  the  Spirit  and  the  revealed  Word. 
All  erring  enthusiasts  are  persuaded  that  the 
Spirit  teaches  them  separate  from,  or  beyond, 
what  is  written.  They  do  not  “understand” 


102 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF 


that  the  Spirit  does  not  come  to  reveal  new 
truth,  but  to  use  the  truth  'which  Christ  has 
already  revealed.  Men  can  be  purified  only  by 
“  obeying  the  truth  through  the  Spirit.”  The 
man  who  understands  the  truth  and  does  not 
obey  is  a  sinner.  The  man  who  professes  to  be 
influenced,  by  the  Spirit,  while  he  does  not  obey 
Christ  by  a  life  of  labor  for  human  good,  is  an 
enthusiast.*  But  if  we  “abide  in  Christ”  by 
faith ,  “and  his  word  abide  in  us”  by  under¬ 
standing,  we  shall  then  have  both  the  impulse 
of  the  Spirit  and  the  guidance  of  the  Word. 
Prayer  will  be  answered  ;  and  we  “  shall  neither 
be  barren  nor  unfruitful  in  the  knowledge  of  our 
Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ.” 


*  See  Appendix  E, —  Cause  of  Fanaticism 


THE  HOL  Y  SPIRIT. 


103 


CHAPTER  VI. 


THE  WORK  OF  CHRIST  BY  THE  DIVINE  SPIRIT  IN 
THE  MINDS  OF  BELIEVERS. 

44  I  will  not  leave  you  comfortless  :  I  will  come 
unto  you.”*  The  promise  of  Christ  in  this  lan¬ 
guage  and  in  other  phraseology,  to  come  again 
after  His  ascension  to  the  Father,  is  often  spo¬ 
ken  of  by  the  sacred  writers.  There  are  three 
events  to  which  the  promise  in  some  of  its 
phrases  is  applicable.  The  first,  and  the  most* 
important  in  its  spiritual  significance,  is  the  com¬ 
ing  of  Christ,  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  to  guide, 
comfort,  and  sanctify  believers,  and  to  convince 
the  world  of  sin,  righteousness,  and  judgment. 
To  His  disciples  He  said,  44 1  will  not  leave  you 
comfortless :  I  will  come  unto  you.”  This  was 
His  coming  in  the  Comforter.  John  xiv,  19, — 

44  The  world  seeth  me  no  more ;  but  ye  shall 


*  John  xiv,  18. 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF 


104 

see  me  ;  because  I  live,  ye  shall  live  also.”  In 
Him  was  life,  and  that  life  would  be  light  and 
love  in  them.  They  would  be  conscious  of  His 
indwelling  presence,  when  He  should  reveal 
Himself  to  them  as  He  did  not  to  the  world. 
This  was  His  first  coming.  He  came  again  by 
His  providence ,  to  destroy  the  city  and  the  tem¬ 
ple,  and  with  these  the  ritual  dispensation  of 
Moses.  The  gospel  being  engrafted  upon  the 
Old  Dispensation,  it  was  fit,  in  the  order  of 
progress,  that  the  imperfect  should  pass  away, 
so  that  the  perfect  might  supervene.*  He  will 
come  again  in  person ,  at  the  end  of  the  Chris¬ 
tian  Dispensation,  to  judge  mankind,  to  destroy 
the  wicked  and  the  world  together,!  and  to  in¬ 
augurate  “  the  new  heavens  and  the  new  earth, 
in  which  shall  dwell  the  righteous,”  who  pos¬ 
sess  eternal  life  by  their  union  with  Him. 

But  Christ’s  coming  by  Iiis  Spirit  is  the  great 
event  of  the  New  Dispensation.  The  apostles 
themselves  did  not  apprehend,  until  after  the 
fulfillment  of  the  promise,  the  plenitude  and  the 

*  Heb.  xii,  27,  —  “  Signifieth  the  removing  of  those  things 
that  are  shaken,  as  of  things  that  are  made,  that  those  things 
which  cannot  be  shaken  may  remain.” 

2  Pet.  iii. 


THE  HOL  Y  SPIRIT \ 


105 


power  of  the  blessing  which  the  words  indi¬ 
cated.* 

§  37.  —  The  twofold  office-work  of  the  Spirit. 

The  work  of  the  Spirit  is  twofold,  in  the 
Church,  and  in  the  world, —  in  the  minds  of 
those  who  are  reconciled  to  God,  and  with  the 
minds  of  the  disobedient. 

Whether  the  Holy  Spirit  ever  influences  the 
disobedient,  unless  it  be  dispensed  through  the 
Church  —  through  the  minds  of  believers,  as  a 
medium,  is  a  question  that  should  receive  thought¬ 
ful  consideration.  It  is  one  of  great  practical 
importance ;  and,  believing  that  the  Divine  pro¬ 
cedure  ordinarily  is,  that  the  Spirit  is  dispensed 
to  believing  and  obedient  minds,  and  through 
these  to  the  unregenerate,  we  will  speak  of  His 
work  in  this  order. 

“  The  promise  of  the  Father  ”  was  given  first 
to  the  disciples.  To  them  the  Spirit  came,  in 
power,  on  the  day  of  Pentecost.  They  immedi¬ 
ately  began  their  mission,  and  preached  Christ 
crucified  as  Lord  and  Saviour.  The  Divine  Spirit 

*  See  Appendix, —  Primitive  views  in  regard  to  Christ’s 
second  Advent. 


14 


106 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF 


and  Divine  providence  co-operated  with  their 
effort.  Men  were  “  pricked  in  their  hearts,” 
and  inquired  what  they  should  do.  They  were 
instructed  to  believe  on  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ; 
and  thus  believing  with  their  heart,  they  were 
baptized  and  added  to  the  churches. 

The  necessity  of  the  Spirit’s  work,  and  His 
separate  office  with  the  obedient  and  disobedient 
mind,  are  stated  with  great  distinctness  by  the 
Saviour  in  His  last  conversation  with  the  disci¬ 
ples.  We  will  quote  the  whole  passage  in  this 
place,  in  order  that  we  may  mark  the  order  and 
the  significance  of  the  words.  The  instruction 
which  they  contain  will  form  for  the  most  part 
the  subject  matter  of  succeeding  pages. 

John  xvi,  7-16, — “I  tell  you  the  truth;  it 
is  expedient  for  you  that  I  go  away :  for  if  I 
go  not  away,  the  Comforter  will  not  come  unto 
you  ;  but  if  I  depart,  I  will  send  him  unto  you. 

“  And  when  he  is  come,  he  will  convince  the 
world  of  sin,  of  righteousness,  and  of  judgment : 

“  Of  sin,  because  they  believe  not  on  me ; 

“  Of  righteousness,  because  I  go  to  the  Father, 
and  ye  see  me  no  more : 

“  And  of  judgment,  because  the  Prince  of 
this  world  is  judged. 


THE  HOL  Y  SPIRIT. 


107 


“  I  have  yet  many  things  to  say  nnto  you, 
but  ye  can  not  bear  them  now.  Howbeit  when 
he,  the  Spirit  of  Truth,  is  come,  he  will  lead 
you  unto  all  truth :  for  he  shall  not  speak  of 
himself ;  but  whatsoever  things  he  shall  hear, 
that  shall  he  speak :  and  he  will  show  you 
things  to  come. 

“  He  shall  glorify  me  ;  for  he  shall  receive  of 
mine,  and  shall  show  it  unto  you. 

“  All  things  that  the  Father  hath  are  mine : 
therefore  said  I,  that  he  shall  take  of  mine,  and 
shall  show  it  unto  you. 

“  A  little  while,  and  ye  shall  not  see  me : 
and  again,  a  little  while,  and  ye  shall  see  me, 
because  I  go  to  the  Father.” 

It  is  not  necessary  in  this  connection  to  speak 
of  the  miraculous  manifestations  of  the  Spirit  in 
the  apostolic  age.  The  foregoing  passage,  which 
specifies  the  work  of  the  promised  Comforter, 
does  not  include  these.  Miracles  were  for  a 
sign.  They  were  the  divine  credentials  confirm¬ 
ing  the  mission  of  those  who  established  the 
New  Dispensation.  As  such,  they  were  necessary, 
in  view  of  the  state  of  the  human  mind,  in  the 
beginning  of  all  the  dispensations.  The  burden 
of  the  promise  in  the  New  Testament  is,  con - 


108 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF 


viction  of  sin  TO  the  WORLD,  and  sanctification 
TO  believers,  through  the  truth  of  Christ ,  empoiv- 
ered  by  the  Holy  Ghost.  The  spiritual  import  of 
the  subject  is  of  the  highest  moment.  It  speaks 
of  the  connection  where  the  Divine  unites  itself 
with  the  human,  in  working  out  the  salvation 
of  the  soul.  We  will  consider  it  in  the  several 
aspects  presented  in  the  foregoing  words  of 
Christ,  and  endeavor  to  apprehend  distinctly  the 
process  of  the  Spirit,  working  by  the  Truth  in 
the  believing,  and  upon  the  unbelieving,  mind. 
First,  in  the  believing  mind. 

§  38. —  The  experimental  import  of  the  statement 
that  the  Spirit  - shall  not  speak  of  Himself. 

We  have  referred  to  this  statement  in  pre¬ 
ceding  pages, —  let  us  now  endeavor  to  gain  an 
appreciation  of  the  experimental  meaning  of  the 
words,  “  The  Spirit  shall  not  speak  of  Himself 

When  the  soul  is  influenced  by  the  Divine 
Messenger,  the  believer  is  not  led  to  think  of 
the  Spirit  itself,  nor  to  utter  praise  in  view  of 
the  person  and  work  of  the  Spirit ;  but  the 
person  and  work  of  Christ  is  brought  before  the 
mind.  The  Comforter  takes  of  the  things  that 


THE  HOL  Y  SPIRIT. 


109 


belong  to  Jesus,  and  shows  them  to  the  soul. 
The  self-denial  of  the  Redeemer,  the  lowliness 
and  loveliness  of  His  character,  His  mercy  to 
the  sinful,  His  suffering  as  a  ransom — some  view 
of  His  character  or  work,  as  it  relates  to  the 
human  soul,  is  presented;  64 and  while  the  Chris¬ 
tian  muses  the  fire  burns.”  A  glow  of  devotion 
is  awakened  in  his  emotions  that  purifies  and 
empowers.  2  Cor.  iii,  18, —  He  44  sees  as  in  a 
glass  the  glory  of  God,  and  is  changed  into  the 
same  image  from  glory  to  glory,  even  as  by  the 
Spirit  of  the  Lord.” 


There  is  an  affluence  supplied 
By  faith  in  Christ  the  crucified, 

Through  all  the  being  rife  ; 

It  is  the  power  that  makes  us  whole  — 

A  saving  unction  in  the  soul  — 

It  is  the  Spirit's  life. 

% 

The  specialty  of  the  statement  ought  to  be 
particularly  noted.  It  is  not  in  accordance  with 
the  aim  and  effect  of  ordinary  spiritual  inter¬ 
course.  The  impression  of  one  spirit  upon  another 
usually  attracts  the  attention  of  the  one  ad¬ 
dressed  to  the  personality  of  the  one  which  com¬ 
municates  the  thought.  But  the  Spirit  of  God 


110 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF 


does  not  exhibit  Himself,  but  He  exhibits  the 
personality  of  Christ  to  the  mind.  He  awakens 
the  soul  to  introduce  the  Saviour.  The  personal¬ 
ity  which  the  soul  sees  is  that  of  Jesus ;  and 
the  truth  which  the  Spirit  uses  is  limited  and 
bounded  by  the  Redeemer’s  work.  The  believer 
experiences  the  fulfillment  of  the  promise,  “  He 
shall  take  of  the  things  that  belong  to  me  and 
show  them  unto  you.” 


§  39. —  By  exhibiting  Christ  the  Spirit  likewise 
exhibits  the  Father  to  the  soul. 

The  Scriptures  teach,  as  we  have  seen,  that 
all  the  attributes  of  the  Father  that  are  know- 
able  by  man  are  revealed  in  the  Son.  The  Son, 
or  Word,  is  the  “outshining  of  the  Father’s 
glory,  and  the  perfect  image  of  His  personality. 
Thus  the  Father  in  Christ,  and  Christ  by  the 
Spirit,  is  revealed  to  the  obedient  mind.  “  All 
things  that  the  Father  hath  are  mine :  therefore 
said  I,  he  [the  Spirit]  shall  take  of  mine,  and 
show  it  unto  you.” 

It  was  promised  to  the  apostles  that  the  Spirit 
should  form  a  conscious  spiritual  union  between 
their  souls  and  Christ,  and  through  Christ  with 


THE  HOL  Y  SPIRIT. 


Ill 


the  Father.  John  xiv,  20,  23, — “  At  that  day 
ye  shall  know  that  I  am  in  the  Father,  and  ye 
in  me,  and  I  in  you.”  “  If  a  man  love  me  he 
will  keep  my  commandments :  and  my  Father 
will  love  him,  and  we  [Father  and  Son]  will 
come  and  make  our  abode  with  him.”  So  in 
1  John  ii,  14, — u  Ye  have  an  unction  from  the 
Holy  One,  and  ye  know  all  things,  and  if  that 
which  ye  have  heard  from  the  beginning  remain 
in  you,  ye  shall  continue  in  the  Son  and  in  the 
Father.” 

“I  in  them  and  thou  in  me ;  that  they  may 
be  made  perfect  in  one.”  These  mystic  words 
are  true  in  the  consciousness  of  believers ;  and 
the  form  of  this  spiritual  union  is  verified  in 
the  nature  of  mind.  By  the  Holy  Spirit  the 
Father  is  in  Christ,  and  Christ  in  believers  :  one 
consciousness  of  life  and  love  flowing  from  the 
one  God  through  all  individual  holy  minds  in 
the  universe.  “  Glory  be  to  the  Father,  and  to 
the  Son,  and  to  the  Holy  Ghost ;  as  it  was  in 
the  beginning  —  is  now,  and  ever  shall  be — world 
without  end.” 

How  clear,  yet  how  profound  and  beneficent, 
is  the  Divine  manifestation !  Believers  are  made 
“  partakers  of  the  Divine  nature.”  The  nature 


112 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF 


of  the  Father  through  the  Son  is  made  known 
unto  them  —  and  (to  repeat  an  illustration)  as 
the  rays  of  light  which  pass  through  a  colored 
medium  take  the  hues  of  the  medium  through 
which  they  come,  so  the  Spirit  ot  God,  coming 
to  us  through  Christ  incarnate,  is  baptized  in 
the  humanities  of  His  person,  and  hence  becomes 
the  dispenser  of  the  Divine  mercy,  as  that  mercy 
was  revealed  in  the  flesh.  So  that  (Rom.  viii, 
3,  4),  “  What  the  law  could  not  do,  in  that 
it  was  weak  through  the  flesh  [had  no  sympa¬ 
thetic  power  to  touch  the  emotional  nature], 
God  sending  his  own  Son  in  the  likeness  of 
sinful  flesh,  and  for  sin,  condemned  sin  in  the 
flesh :  that  the  righteousness  of  the  law  [which 
requires  love  but  can  not  produce  it]  might  be 
fulfilled  in  us,  who  walk  not  after  the  flesh,  but 
the  Spirit.” 


§  40. — The  Spirit  witnesses  to  the  truth  of  Divine 

revelation . 

“  He  that  believeth  on  the  Son  of  God  hath 
the  witness  in  himself”  (1  John  v,  10)  that  the 
record  which  God  has  given  of  His  Son  is  true. 
The  form  of  this  testimony  is  obvious.  The 


THE  HOL  Y  SPIRIT. 


118 


mental  exercises,  —  the  hopes,  fears,  interests, 
states  of  mind,  which  those  possessed  who  be¬ 
lieved  the  truth  in  the  age  of  the  apostles,  are 
given  in  the  New  Testament,  These  were  pro¬ 
duced  by  belief  of  the  truth  as  then  revealed. 
By  the  Holy  Spirit  the  same  truth  begets  the 
same  state  of  mind  in  believers  now  that  is 
promised  in  the  record,  and  that  was  possessed 
by  believers  of  the  age  when  it  was  spoken. 
The  Christian  knows  therefore  that  it  is  the  same 
Spirit  and  the  same  truth  that  existed  in  the 
days  of  the  apostles,  because  the  same  effects 
are  produced  in  him,  by  the  same  cause,  which 
were  produced  in  them.  The  promise  of  light, 
comfort,  strength,  by  the  Spirit  is  fulfilled ;  and 
he  can  no  more  doubt  the  truth  of  the  Christian 
religion,  than  he  could  doubt  the  word  of  a 
traveler,  who  told  him  of  a  spring  by  the  way- 
side  after  he  had  himself  found  it  as  described, 
and  tasted  the  qualities  of  the  water,  which  re¬ 
freshed  and  strengthened  him,  as  it  had  others. 

This  is  the  assurance  of  Paul,  when  he  says, 
“  The  Holy  Ghost  also  is  witness  for  us.”*  He 
predicated  his  statement,  as  the  passage  shows, 
upon  the  promise  given  in  the  Old  Testament, 

*  Heb.  x,  15. 

8 


114 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF 


that  in  the  time  of  Christ  the  “  law  should  be 
written  in  the  heart.”  This  was  fulfilled  in  him 
by  the  Spirit,  and  therefore  he  knew,  by  the 
highest  of  all  evidence,  that  both  the  Old  Test¬ 
ament  promises  and  the  New  Testament  expe¬ 
rience  were  from  God.  The  one  was  the  counter¬ 
part  of  the  other. 

Many  persons,  not  apprehending  the  nature  of 
the  infallible  evidence  for  spiritual  religion,  ask 
Why  does  not  God  give  us  now  the  same  mi¬ 
raculous  testimony  to  the  truth  of  revelation  that 
He  gave  to  His  ancient  people?  We  have  better 
testimony  than  this  :  —  The  presence  of  Christ  by 
His  Spirit  is  better  evidence  than  was  His 
presence  by  the  pillar  of  cloud  and  fire.  The 
one  was  better  adapted  to  the  age  of  infancy 
and  discipline  —  the  other  is  adapted  to  the  age 
of  manhood  and  reason.  In  the  one  Christ  was 
present  to  the  sense  —  in  the  other  He  is  pres¬ 
ent  to  the  soul.  The  Shekinah  which  shone 
through  the  veil  of  Moses,  now  shines  unveiled 
into  the  hearts  of  believers,  giving  them  the 
“  light  of  the  knowledge  of  God  in  the  face  of 
Christ  Jesus.’ 

The  conscious  testimony  of  the  Holy  Spirit  is 


THE  HOL  Y  SPIRIT. 


115 


the  only  satisfactory  evidence  of  faith  in  Christ.* 
The  external  evidence  of  the  truth  of  Christi¬ 
anity  may  convince  the  intelligence  of  some  men 
r  that  the  system  has  historical  validity.  The  use 
of  such  evidence  is  proper  in  its  place ;  and  in 
the  hands  of  those  who  understand  its  place  and 
its  comparative  value  it  may  be  used  with  profit 
to  others.  But  some  have  written  on  the  evi¬ 
dences  of  Christianity  that  knew  nothing  them¬ 
selves  of  the  higher  testimony.  And  many  have 
believed  the  history  of  “  God  manifest  in  the 
flesh,”  who  never  possessed  the  inward  testi¬ 
mony  produced  by  the  “  faith  which  works  by 
love  and  purifies  the  heart.”f  Such  men  may 
discuss,  with  much  learning  and  intellectual  acu¬ 
men,  the  dogma  of  theological  systems :  but  it 
is  Written  (1  Cor.  xii,  3),  and  will  be  true  for 
ever,  that  “  no  man  can  say  Jesuis  is  the  Christ 
but  by  the  Holy  Ghost.” 

*  See  Appendix  G, —  Bishop  Taylor’s  Testimony. 

f  The  Spirit  was  not  promised  to  testify  of  the  canon  of  the 
Old  Testament,  or  the  Hagiography,  or  histories  of  Old  Testa¬ 
ment  times.  It  testifies  of  the  Old  Testament  system  as  intro¬ 
ductory,  and  hence  immature  both  in  precept  and.  example.  Its 
promised  “  conviction  of  sin  ”  is  in  view  of  Christ,  and  it  “  takes 
of  the  things  that  belong  to  Christ  and  shows  -them  to  the 
believer,”  and  to  the  believer  only. 


116 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF 


This  view  of  the  place  and  comparative  value 
of  miraculous  and  spiritual  testimony  is  recog¬ 
nized  by  the  Savibur.  Before  the  advent  of  the 
Spirit,  and  while  Jesus  was  yet  with  them,  He 
urged  His  disciples,  and  likewise  the  Jews,  to 
believe  that  the  Father  was  in  Him,  and  He 
in  the  Father,  for  the  works’  sake  which  He 
did.  Before  the  day  of  Pentecost,  miracles  were 
the  best  evidence  that  men  had  of  the  divinity 
of  Christ.  And  down  to  this  day,  with  unre¬ 
generate  minds,  and  Christians  in  the  Old  Tes¬ 
tament  or  John  Baptist  state,  miracles  are  still 
the  best  testimony  which  such  possess.  But  at 
the  same  time  that  Christ  appealed  to  His  mir¬ 
acles  as  evidence  of  His  commission  from  Heaven, 
He  promised  to  His  disciples  more  satisfactory 
testimony  —  a  testimony  which  the  world  did  not 
and  could  not  receive.  John  xiv,  11  —  26, — 
“  He  that  loveth  me  shall  be  loved  of  my 
Father,  and  I  will  love  him,  and  will  manifest  my¬ 
self  to  him.”  “At  that  day  ye  shall  know  that 
I  am  in  the  Father ,  and  ye  in  me,  and  I  in  you.” 

§  41. —  The  nature  of  the  Spirit’s  witness. 

The  visitations  of  the  Spirit  are  with  the  inner 
life  of  the  soul.  They  beget  a  sense  of  sonship 


THE  HOL  Y  SPIRIT. 


117 


in  the  believing  mind.  The  renewed  man  is 
willing  to  obey  and  be  treated  as  a  servant,  but 
he  is  received  and  endowed  with  the  spirit  and 
privileges  of  a  son.  In  regeneration  the  mind 
passes,  as  the  Church  has  done,  through  the 
legal  into  the  spiritual  dispensation.  All  the 
demands  of  conscience  are  obeyed  better  than 
before,  but  the  impulse  to  will  and  to  do  is 
born  in  the  heart.  The  Old  Testament  servant 
becomes  a  New  Testament  son.  “  Our  Father  ” 
is  the  proper  designation  of  God  under  the  new 
dispensation.  But  it  is  a  designation  specially 
appropriate  to  those  in  whose  minds  the  law  of 
love  is  fulfilled.  “  They  that  are  led  by  the 
Spirit  of  G-od ,  they  are  the  sons  of  God.” 
Hence  Paul,  in  speaking  of  the  obedience  he 
once  offered,  and  that  which  he  then  enjoyed, 
says  (Rom.  viii,  15,  16),  44  For  we  have  not  re¬ 
ceived  the  spirit  of  bondage  again  to  fear;  but 
we  have  received  the  Spirit  of  adoption,  whereby 
we  cry,  Abba,  Father,  —  the  Spirit  itself  bearing 
witness  with  our  spirit,  that  we  are  the  sons 
of  God.” 

Of  this  condition  of  sonship,  as  of  all  other 
Christian  graces  and  glories,  Jesus  Christ  Him¬ 
self  is  the  example  and  the  type.  From  Him, 


118 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF 


by  the  Spirit,  believers  receive  into  their  hearts 
the  Christian  virtues  —  “grace  for  grace.”  Each 

t 

lineament  of  His  character  is  impressed  upon 
them  in  proportion  to  their  faith.  So  that  the 

s 

devout,  tender,  and  submissive  spirit  manifested 
by  Christ  toward  the  Father,  is  reproduced  in 
believers  “  by  the.  Spirit  of  Christ  which  dwell- 
eth  in  them.”  Gal.  iv,  6,  —  “For  God  hath  sent 
forth  the  Spirit  of  his  Son  into  their  ’  hearts, 
crying,  Abba,  Father.” 


§  42. —  The  influence  of  the  Spirit  upon  the  fac¬ 
ulties  of  the  mind  separately  considered. 

The  Spirit  of  Christ  does  not  work  in  contra¬ 
vention  of  the  normal  exercise  of  the  mental 
powers.  On  the  contrary,  it  works  in  harmony 
with  all  the  laws  of  mind.  Its  influence  is  to 
exhilarate  and  exercise  the  mental  faculties  joy¬ 
fully  and  energetically.  The  things  which  Christ 
had  spoken  were  brought  to  the  memory  of  the 
disciples,  but  this  was  done  evidently  according 
to  the  law  of  suggestion.  The  different  evan¬ 
gelists  in  communicating  the  same  truth  connect 
it  sometimes  with  one  incident,  and  sometimes 
with  another ;  each  recording  the  event  as  sug- 


THE  HOL  Y  SPIRIT. 


119 


nested  by  the  circumstance  which  most  affected 
him,  and  each  presenting  it  in  language  in  keep¬ 
ing  with  his  natural  temperament,  and  with  the 
degree  of  his  mental  culture.*'  One  evangelist 
associates  events  topically,  another  logically,  and 
another  spiritually;  but  still  in  all  the  memory 
furnishes  the  same  truth,  characterized  by  the 
diverse  advantages  and  mental  peculiarities  of 
the  writers. 

A  spiritual  mind  is  one  awakened  to  life  and 
interest  in  spiritual  things.  To  the  Christian 
preacher  especially,  this  heart -interest  in  the  gos¬ 
pel  is  an  essential  qualification.  The  affections, 
awakened  by  faith,  will  start  the  law  of  sug¬ 
gestion,  and  thus  give  parallel  texts  to  the 
memory,  and  freshness  of  illustration  to  impress 

*  When  Bible  orators  speak  of  the  excellence  of  Revelation, 
as  consisting  in  the  wonderful  sublimity  of  language  and  won¬ 
derful  excellence  of  precept  found  in  the  Old  and  New  Test¬ 
ament,  they  no  doubt  ought  to  be  commended  for  their  well- 
meant  efforts.  But  it  is  certain  that  literary  style  in  any  other 
sense  than  as  a  specimen  of  the  usus  loquendi  of  the  age,  was 
not  designed  to  be  an  evidence  of  inspiration.  If  literary  excel¬ 
lence  was  the  criterion  of  judgment,  it  would  be  difficult  for 
well-informed  Christians  to  undertake  the  proof  of  Divine  inspi¬ 
ration.  Even  if  the  precepts  of  the  Bible  were  its  chief  excel¬ 
lence  the  evidence  would  be  different  from  what  it  really  is. 
The  example  and  precepts  of  Christ  are  perfect  and  ultimate, 


120 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF 


the  thought.  Every  true  minister  understands 
and  appreciates  this  fact,  and  every  audience, 
without  knoiving  why ,  feels  it.  As  a  man  plead¬ 
ing  for  his  child  will  find  words,  and  be  im¬ 
pressive  in  tone  and  gesture,  so  a  believing  mind 
will  be  aided,  and  will  communicate  of  its  animus 
to  those  who  hear. 

Earnestnes,  love,  and  other  qualities  of  thought 
which  characterize  true  gospel  services,  are  mere 
affectations  in  some  pulpits.  Men  are  conscious 
of  what  their  profession  requires,  and  perhaps 
from  a  laudable  but  heartless  sense  of  propriety 
assume  the  adapted  manner.  But  such  preachers 
do  not  44  speak  as  of  the  ability  that  God  giveth, 
that  God  in  all  things  may  be  glorified.”!  They 
speak  as  of  themselves  ;  and  the  false  fire  upon 

‘  Thou  shalt  love  God  with  all  thy  heart  and  all  thy  might, 
and  thy  neighbor  as  thyself.”  There  can  be  nothing  purer  nor 
higher  than  this.  Any  thing  else  would  be  wrong.  If  God 
were  to  give  another  religion  it  would  necessarily  be  a  worse 
one,  because  it  could  not  be  better.  But  the  power  of  the 
gospel  is  its  glory.  The  strength  imparted  by  the  Spirit  through 
the  conscience  and  the  heart  to  obey  Christ  as  a  personal 
Saviour,  is  its  vital  excellence.  The  disposition  to  do  the  good 
that  we  know  is  the  great  want  of  the  soul.  This  7vant  is 
supplied  by  faith  in  Christ.  This  precept  enlightens.  The  SriRiT 
GIVES  LIFE. 


V 


f  i  Pet.  iv,  n. 


THE  II OL  Y  SPIRIT. 


121 


the  altar  is  a  proper  emblem  of  their  service. 
“  Out  of  the  abundance  of  the  heart  the  mouth 
speaketh and  when  a  true  minister  has  care¬ 
fully  and  prayerfully  prepared  a  discourse,  for¬ 
getting  himself  and  shaping  it  under  the  motive 
to  do  good,  if  the  manuscript  be  not  so  closed 
as  to  prevent  it,  he  will  get  from  the  impulse 
within  him  aids  and  suggestions  which  will 
greatly  add  to  the  impression  of  his  teaching.* 

It  may  be  that  the  mind  that  is  naturally 
impulsive  and  sanguine,  as  it  is,  in  itself,  more 
liable  to  mistakes,  is  likewise,  from  its  temper¬ 
ament,  more  susceptible  of  aid  than  others.  Such 
were  the  minds  of  Peter,  Luther,  Whitfield  and 
Finney.  There  are  some  men  who  are  so  care¬ 
ful  lest  they  should  do  evil  that  they  never  do 
much  good  —  so  careful  to  avoid  error  that  they 
fail  to  exhibit  truth.  Some  prepare  a  sermon 
with  the  selfish  thought  in  their  minds,  What 
effect  will  this  presentation  have  upon  ME  in  the 
estimation  of  the  audience  ?  Some  close  a  manu¬ 
script  in  such  form  that  there  is  no  place  for 
the  Holy  Spirit  to  put  in  a  suggestion.  Hence 
a  fervent,  sincere,  believing  mind  will  most  fre- 

*  See  on  this  general  subject  the  excellent  book  of  W. 
Arthur,  M.A.,  entitled  “  The  Tongue  of  Fire.” 


122 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF 


quently  be  aided  ;  and  even  the  blunders  to 
which  it  is  liable  will  often  be  overruled  for 
good, —  for  good,  both  to  humble  the  speaker  and 
to  benefit  the  hearer.  It  is  difficult,  however,  to 
discriminate  between  the  line  of  selfish  caution 
and  sinful  presumption.  God  alone,  not  man,  is 
judge. 

The  promise  to  the  apostles  that  they  would 
be  aided  without  forethought  related  only  to 
exigencies ,  and  ought  not  to  be  claimed  for  the 
formal,  routine  preaching  of  our  age.  But,  in 
every  age,  spiritual  aid  to  prepare  and  to  speak 
is,  without  doubt,  granted  to  all  evangelists  who 
have  a  true  faith,  and  who  seek  to  accomplish 
the  end  for  which  the  Holy  Spirit  gives  strength 
to  the  soul :  —  the  great  end  of  all  Christian 
effort, —  to  glorify  God  by  doing  good  to  men. 

But  while  the  Spirit,  thus  operates  in  accord¬ 
ance  with  the  conformation  of  the  mind,  there 
are  exceptional  cases  where  abnormal  conforma¬ 
tion  interferes  with  symmetrical  religious  develop¬ 
ment.  There  are  minds  in  which  certain  powers 
or  susceptibilities  are  dwarfed  or  perverted.  The 
susceptibility  of  hope,  for  instance,  may  be  over- 
active  or  it  may  be  almost  wanting.  In  such 
cases,  without  a  miracle,  a  full  and  perfect  de- 


THE  HOL  Y  SPIRIT. 


123 


velopment  of  religious  life  is  not  possible.  A 
phlegmatic  temperament  will  not  be  likely  to 
express  itself  in  sanguine  appeals.  Grace  may 
compensate  for  want  in  one  direction  by  strength 
in  another,  but  it  will  not  equalize  the  develop¬ 
ment.  But  notwithstanding  these  diversities,  there 
are  two  qualities,  or  powers,  to  which  faith  will 
always  give  vitality  and  position.  In  all  cases, 
however  defective  may  be  some  of  the  intellec¬ 
tual  powers,  the  conscience  will  be  enthroned 
and  the  affections  will  receive  new  life ;  and 
these  moral  powers,  raised  by  faith  to  headship 
in  the  soul,*  will  determine  the  strength  of  the 
motive,!  and  give  impulse  to  the  will.  Right- 

a 

eousness  and  the  love  of  God  will  be  in  the 
ascendant.  There  will  be  different  phases  of  man¬ 
ifestation  ;  and  fruits  will  be  matured  in  different 
degrees  of  abundance,  and  of  different  qualities 
— still,  in  the  life  of  every  true  Christian,  con¬ 
science  and  love  will  rule  ;  and  the  fruits  of  the 
Spirit,  borne  on  all  the  branches  united  to  Christ, 
will  be  “  love,  joy,  peace,  long-suffering,  gentle- 

*  See  Chalmers’  Bridgewater  Treatise  on  the  Supremacy  of 
Conscience. 

f  The  power  of  motive-truth  depends  upon  the  state  of  mind 
upon  which  it  operates. 


1*4 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF 


ness,  goodness,  faith,  meekness,  temperance.” 
These  the  soul  will  taste  in  its  own  susceptibil¬ 
ity,  and  will  thus  be  made  to  partake  of  the 
fruit  of  the  “  Tree  of  Life,  which  groweth  in 
the  midst  of  the  Paradise  of  God.” 


§  43. — The  duty  of  prayer  annexed  to  the 
doctrine  of  the  Spirit. 

The  gift  of  the  Spirit  ©f  Truth,  as  we  have 
noticed,  is  the  promise  of  the  Father  —  the 
promise  of  Christ  —  the  great  promise  of  the 
New  Testament  Dispensation.  The  believer  is 
not  only  invited  to  ask  for  this  offered  blessing, 
but  he  is  apparently  entreated  by  the  Author 
of  all  Mercies  to  seek  for  that  spiritual  presence 
of  Christ  which  is,  in  itself,  an  answer  to  all 
prayer.  “Seek,  and  ye  shall  find;”  “Ask,  and 
it  shall  be  given  unto  you.”  We  are  taught 
that  the  Divine  Father  is  more  willing  to  give 
the  Holy  Spirit  to  His  children  who  ask  Him 
than  earthly  parents  are  to  give  good  gifts  to 
their  offspring.  And  annexed  to  this  promise 
there  is  the  assurance  that  the  blessing  granted 
shall  not  be  such  as  to  mock  the  suppliant; 
but  that  it  will  be  a  satisfactory  supply  of  his 


THE  HOL  Y  SPIRIT. 


125 


spiritual  wants.  “If  a  child  ask  bread,  will  a 
parent  give  him  a  stone  ?  ”  something  that  will 
mock,  but  not  satisfy  his  want  ?  Even  so,  the 
Father  in  Heaven  will  grant  a  satisfying  supply 
for  the  spiritual  wants  of  those  who  ask  Him. 

Such  is  the  plentitude  of  the  promise  to  the 
children  of  God.  And  they  are  encouraged  to 
seek  spiritual  blessings,  not  only  for  themselves, 
but  in  answer  to  their  persevering  supplication, 
blessings  are  promised  to  them,  for  others ,  and 
they  are  constituted  the  mediums  through  which 
spiritual  mercies  are  communicated  to  those  who 
have  not  tasted  of  the  bread  of  life,*  and  for 
whom  they  make  supplication. 

§  44. — The  condition  upon  which  he  influence  of 
the  Holy  Spirit  is  granted. 

It  is  not  every  form  o  prayer  that  is  answered 
by  a  blessing.  It  is  (James  v,  16)  “  The  effec¬ 
tual  fervent  prayer  of  the  righteous  man  that 
availeth  much.”  Some  things  are  required  in 
the  character  of  the  suppliant,  and  some  things 
in  the  quality  of  the  prayer.  The  sum  of  these 
requirements,  as  to  character,  is  tha  the  sup- 


*  See  Luke  xi,  5 — 13. 


126 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF 


pliant  should  live  up  to  his  knowledge  of  duty. 
We  must  not  refuse  to  use  the  light  and  strength 
which  we  possess  while  we  pray  for  more  light 
and  aid  from  above. 

The  golden  rule  is  a  deduction  of  the  reason, 
as  well  as  a  precept  of  revelation.*  We  know 
by  experience  what  we  desire  others  should  or 
should  not  do  to  us,  hence  we  know  what  we 
ought  to  do  to  them.  In  Matthew  vii,  11,  12, 
the  Saviour’s  promise  of  the  Spirit  is  immediately 
conjoined  with  this  rule  of  righteousness.  He 
says,  “  If  ye,  being  evil,  know  how  to  give  good 
gifts  unto  your  children,  how  much  more  shall 
your  Father  which  is  in  Heaven  give  good 
gifts  to  them  that  ask  him?”  “ Therefore ,  all 
things  whatsoever  ye  would  that  men  should  do 
unto  you,  do  ye  even  so  unto  them.”  The 
Christian,  therefore,  who  labors  to  practice  this 
rule,  comes  acceptably  to  the  Father  for  the  aid 
of  the  promised  Spirit. 

The  Apostle  Paul  gives  the  same  truth  and 
the  same  connection  in  another  form  of  words 
(Phil,  iii,  14,  15), — “  I  press  toward  the  mark 
for  the  prize  of  the  high  calling  of  God  in  Christ 

*  Confucius  announced  this  rule  in  words  the  import  of  which 
is  precisely  the  same  as  that  taught  in  the  language  of  Jesus. 


THE  HOL  Y  SPIRIT. 


127 


Jesus.  Let  us,  therefore,  as  many  as  be  perfect, 
be  thus  minded :  and  if  in  any  thing  ye  be 
otherwise  minded,  God  will  reveal  even  this  unto 
you.”  That  is,  if  in  the  discharge  of  Christian 
duty  you  use  all  the  strength  at  present  granted, 
God  will  aid  you  in  regard  to  other  things  which 
you  may  desire.  And  this  promise  of  increase, 
when  the  measure  of  ability  is  complied  with, 
relates  not  only  to  duty  but  to  doctrine.  John 
vii,  17, — “  If  any  man  will  do  his  will,  he  shall 
know  of  the  doctrine  whether  it  be  of  God.” 

The  Apostle  John  gives  the  specific  sense 
(1  John  iii,  21,  22), — “  Beloved,  if  our  heart  con¬ 
demn  us  not,  then  have  we  confidence  toward 
God.  And  whatsoever  we  ash  we  receive  of  him , 
BECAUSE  WE  KEEP  HIS  COMMANDMENTS,  AND  DO 
THOSE  THINGS  WHICH  ABE  PLEASING  IN  HIS 
sight.”  That  is,  in  order  to  receive  an  answer 
to  prayer  for  promised  blessings,  we  must  be 
living,  so  far  as  we  have  ability,  in  the  discharge 
of  all  duties  that  we  know  are  pleasing  to  God. 
It  is  mockery  to  pray,  as  some  do,  for  guidance 
and  strength,  while  they  are  not  obedient  so  far 
as  they  have  knowledge  and  ability.  It  is  the 
same  thing  as  refusing  to  use  the  ability  granted 
us,  while  yet  we  ask  for  more. 


v 


128 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF 


If  the  Scriptures  make  any  thing  plain,  it  is 
that  good  works ,  as  of  the  ability  that  Giod  giveth , 
are  required  in  order  that  prayer  may  be  answered. 
In  the  parable  of  Jesus,  he  who  had  the  one 
talent  committed  to  him  was  a  servant  who  pro¬ 
fessed  to  fear  and  obey  his  master.  He  was 
not  one  of  the  rebellious  citizens  who  hated 
their  Lord  and  opposed  His  government.  And 
while  thus  refusing  to  exercise  his  ability  in  the 
use  of  the  talent  committed  to  him,  he  not  only 
failed  of  a  present  blessing  by  an  increase  of 
his  talent  arising  from  the  use  of  it,  but  he  se¬ 
cured  for  himself  merited  penalty.  His  soul  was 
not  slain  as  the  rebellious  citizen,  but  it  was 
darkened,  and  possessed  with  regretful  exercises.* 

*  See  Luke  xix,  11-27. — A  penalty  is  affixed  to  the  non-use 
of  our  faculties  and  abilities,  both  in  nature  and  grace.  The 
man  who,  like  the  Fakir  in  India,  refuses  to  use  his  arm,  will 
lose  ability  to  use  it.  The  man  who  refuses  to  use  his  moral 
faculties  in  the  service  of  God,  will  lose  moral  strength  in  the 
faculty  which  is  not  exercised.  All  our  faculties  gain  strength 
by  exercise,  and  lose  strength  by  non-use.  The  unprofitable 
servant  in  the  parable  professed  to  know  the  character,  and 
to  fear  the  frown,  of  his  master.  He  knew  his  master  had 
power  to  do  as  he  pleased,  and  did  not  need  his  service ;  and 
seeing  he  was  so  sovereign ,  he  did  not  himself  know  what  to 
do  with  the  talent  intrusted  to  him.  So  he  kept  it  very  care- 


THE  HOL  Y  SPIRIT. 


129 


Suppose  that  God  should  grant  the  Holy  Spirit 
in  answer  to  prayer,  without  the  condition  that 
the  servant  should  use  the  ability  already  pos¬ 
sessed  ;  the  answer  would,  in  such  case,  mislead 
the  suppliant  and  tend  to  licentiousness.  The 
fact  that  God  had  given  peace  and  love  where 
there  was  pride  and  prejudice  and  disobedience 
(if  such  a  thing  were  possible  —  which  it  is 
not),  would  lead  the  suppliant  to  believe  that 
God  was  pleased  with  him  while  he  possessed 
a  wrong  state  of  heart,  and  was  not  letting  the 
light  he  already  possessed  shine,  according  to 
the  commandment.  Thus  man  would  be  deceived 
and  injured,  and  God  would  be  dishonored. 
The  best  Christians  sometimes  feel  the  weakness 

fully  (had  very  careful  habits,  and  did  not  abuse  his  moral 
powers  in  any  way),  and  returned  it  in  good  condition  to  him 
who  gave  it.  Such  a  professed  servant  of  Christ,  we  are  taught, 
will  hereafter  be  cast  out  into  moral  darkness,  where  he  will 
be  filled  with  compunction  in  view  of  his  indolence  and  folly. 
The  enemies  of  Christ  who  refuse  to  have  Him  reign  over 
them,  are  brought  out  and  slain  before  Him.  The  unprofitable 
servant  suffers  loss,  exclusion,  and  remorse.  The  rebels  are  de¬ 
stroyed. 

Let  unprofitable  servants,  whose  names  are  legion,  notice  the 
specific  difference  between  the  reward  of  the  pi'ofitable  servant, 
the  doom  of  the  unprofitable,  and  the  destruction  of  the  rebel¬ 
lious  citizen. 


9 


130 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF 


of  their  strength  and  of  their  faith,  but  they 
know  the  will  of  God  and  can  obey  with  a 
prayerful,  dependent,  and  persevering  spirit ;  and 
while  doing  the  work  of  a  servant,  if  they  do 
it  for  Christ’s  sake,  God  will  recognize  them  as 
sons.  When  comparing  themselves  with  Christ, 
all  Christians  will  see  imperfection  in  their  obe¬ 
dience — but  they  will  be  conscious  of  an  obedi¬ 
ent  spirit,  and  trust  in  Christ’s  mercy,  and  this 
is  the  true  Christian  consciousness  in  light  or 
darkness. 

To  the  young  convert  whose  heart  is  purified, 
and  whose  knowledge  is  yet  limited,  the  privi¬ 
lege  of  the  newly  born  may  be  given.  The 
Good  Shepherd  may  take  the  lamb  in  His  arms, 
and  bear  it  for  a  time  in  His  bosom;  but  He 
will  set  it  down  in  order  that  it  may  gain 
strength  by  exercise.  So  the  young  Christian 
must  learn  to  talk,  and  walk,  and  work.  He 
may  lean  on  Christ’s  strength,  but  he  must  exer^ 
cise  his  faculties  in  active  service  ;  and  refusing 
to  do  this  he  will  fail  in  fruitfulness,  and  fail 
of  the  favor  of  God  in  answer  to  prayer. 

The  requirement  of  reason  and  of  Scripture, 
in  regard  to  the  instructed  Christian  in  order  to 
communion  with  God,  is  that  he  should  live  so 


THE  HOL  Y  SPIRIT. 


131 


that  his  conscience  does  not  condemn  him  for 
neglecting  known  duty.  1  John  iii,  19-22, — 
‘‘Hereby  we  know  that  we  are  of  the  truth, 
and  shall  assure  our  hearts  before  him.  For  if 
our  conscience  condemn  us,  God  is  greater  than 
our  conscience,  and  knoweth  all  things.  Beloved, 
if  our  conscience  condemn  us  not,  then  have  we 
confidence  toward  God.  And  whatsoever  we  ask, 
we  receive  of  him ,  because  we  keep  his  com¬ 
mandments,  AND  DO  THE  THINGS  THAT  APE 
pleasing  in  his  sight.”  This  is  explicit.  No 
one  but  the  formal  worshiper  can  fail  to  under¬ 
stand. 

§  45.  —  Availing  prayer  is  offered  to  God  in  the 

name  of  Christ. 

The  Redeemer,  in  His  last  words  with  His 
disciples,  speaking  of  His  departure  from  them, 
and  the  new  views  which  would  be  attained, 
and  the  new  duties  which  would  supervene  after 
His  ascension,  says  (John  xvi,  23,  24),  “  In  that 
day  [after  I  shall  have  fully  revealed  the  Father 
and  ascended  to  his  bosom]  ye  shall  ask  me 
nothing.  Verily,  verily,  I  say  unto  you,  What¬ 
soever  ye  shall  ask  the  Father  in  my  name ,  he 


132 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF 


will  give  it  yon.  Hitherto  ye  have  asked  noth¬ 
ing  in  my  name :  ask,  and  receive,  that  your 
joy  may  be  full.” 

When  we  ask  for  spiritual  blessings,  viewing 
the  Father’s  character  as  revealed  in  Christ, 
“  the  Father  is  glorified  in  the  Son.”  This  is 
the  import  of  this  and  other  parallel  passages.* 
To  ask  the  Father  in  the  name  of  Christ,  is  to 
ask  Him  in  the  character  rvhich  the  work  of 
Christ  has  given  Him.  He  is  thus  glorified  in 
the  name,  or  in  the  character,  which  He  has 
revealed  in  Christ.  If  God’s  character  were  not 
viewed  through  Christ,  we  would  not  be  regard¬ 
ing  His  moral  excellences  and  His  relations  to 
ourselves  as  they  really  exist  under  the  New 
Testament  dispensation.  God  is  as  good  as  the 
sacrifice  of  Christ  reveals  Him  to  be.  To  know 
Him,  therefore,  as  He  is,  to  worship  in  the 
light  of  His  true  character,  we  must  ask  in  the 
name  of  J esus ;  that  is,  adoring  the  Divine 
Being  as  revealed  in  the  Mediator. 

Before  the  crucifixion  and  the  advent  of  the 
Spirit  the  disciples  had  made  supplication  in 
the  name  of  Jehovah  —  the  name  by  which  the 
attributes  of  God  were  imperfectly  revealed  in 

*  See  Philosophy  of  Plan  of  Salvation,  chap.  xvii. 


THE  HOL  Y  SPIRIT. 


133 


the  Old  Testament  dispensation ;  but  when  the 
Spirit  led  them  to  see  the  Father  in  Christ, 
then,  and  not  till  then,  Christ’s  name  was  asso¬ 
ciated  in  all  their  addresses  to  the  Supreme  Be¬ 
ing.*  Heb.  xiii,  20,  21, — “  Now  the  God  of  peace, 
that  brought  again  from  the  dead  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  that  great  shepherd  of  the  sheep, 
through  the  blood  of  the  everlasting  covenant, 
make  you  perfect  in  every  good  work  to  do  his 
will,  working  in  you  that  which  is  well  pleasing 
in  his  sight,  through  Jesus  Christ ;  to  whom  be 
glory  for  ever  and  ever.  Amen.” 

§  46. — The  sum  of  preceding  sections. 

The  sum  of  preceding  thoughts  on  this  subject 
is,  that  prayer  for  the  blessing  of  the  Spirit,  . 

*  A  true  faith  in  Christ  implies  both  the  impulse  of  love 
and  the  guidance  of  truth.  Many  have  faith  in  Christ  as  a 
Saviour,  who  misapprehend,  or  are  ignorant  of  His  will  in  regard 
to  duty.  They  pray  not  in  submission,  but  for  strength  to  do 
what  is  contrary  to  the  will  of  God.  They  have  zeal  without 
knowledge.  To  hear  their  prayer  would  be  to  grant  them 
strength  to  misdirect  their  efforts.  Their  prayer  may  be  an¬ 
swered  ;  but  not  in  the  manner  they  desire.  But  those  who 
“  abide  in  Christ  by  faith ,  and  in  whom  his  words  abide  as 
guidance,  may  ask  what  they  will,  and  it  shall  be  done  unto 
them .” — John  xv,  7. 


134 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF 


when  we  are  not  living  up  to  our  light,  nor 
making  an  effort  to  do  so,  is  mockery.  Suppli¬ 
cation  for  the  Spirit’s  guidance,  when  we  are  at 

the  same  time  unwilling  to  be  made  the  humble, 

» 

obedient,  self-denying  Christians  which  we  know 

the  Spirit  would  make  us,  is  hypocrisy.  But  to 

% 

those  who  receive  the  words  of  Christ  and  are 
obedient  to  them  in  heart  —  to  such  as  endeavor, 
according  to  their  ability,  to  exemplify  the  Spirit 
and  follow  the  example  of  the  Great  Teacher, 
the  Comforter  is  promised,  and  the  promise  will 
never  fail  while  the  truth  and  mercy  of  God 
endure. 

And  when  the  Comforter  comes,  He  not  only 
brings  a  blessing  to  the  soul  of  the  suppliant, 
but  He  endues  him  with  a  blessing  for  the  sub¬ 
jects  of  his  prayers.  Not  that  impenitent  men 
will  be  converted  when  the  believer  makes  per¬ 
sistent  supplication  for  them ;  but,  if  they  have 
not  sinned  beyond  recovery,  the  Divine  Spirit 
will  visit  those  for  whom  such  supplication  is 
offered,  and  by  some  fact  of  providence,  or  of 
revelation,  such  minds  will  be  impressed  and 
invited  to  consider  subjects  connected  with  their 

spiritual  condition  here  and  their  spiritual  well- 

♦ 

being  hereafter. 


THE  HOL  V  SPIRIT. 


135 


Thus  the  company  of  obedient  Christians  are 
made  “  partakers  of  the  Divine  nature,”  and  be¬ 
come  the  living  mediums  by  which  the  mercy  of 
Heaven  is  conveyed  through  the  earth.  They 
are  appointed  “  a  holy  priesthood,  to  offer  up 
spiritual  sacrifices,  acceptable  to  God,  through 
Jesus  Christ.”  Under  the  Old  Testament,  the 
company  of  priests  made  intercession,  “  with  sac¬ 
rifice,  day  by  day,  which  could  not  make  them 
which  did  the  service  perfect  as  pertaining  to 
the  conscience.”  Under  the  new  and  .perfect 
dispensation,  every  believer  is  appointed  an  in¬ 
tercessor.  For  them  the  sacrifice  of  Christ  is 
always  offered — “  offered  once  for  all  by  the  Eter¬ 
nal  Spirit .”  Whoever  believes  and  obeys  Christ 
receives  the  Spirit ;  his  work  for  the  good  of 
men  will  then  be  availing,  and  his  prayers  will 
be  answered, — for  he  is  constituted  “a  king  and 
priest  unto  God,  and  he  shall  reign  in  the  new 
heavens  and  new  earth,  in  which  dwelleth  right¬ 
eousness.”* 

*  Rev.  v,  io.  See  Appendix  H,  —  Connection  between 
Truth,  Providence,  and  Prayer. 


136 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF 


CHAPTER  VII. 

THE  WORK  OF  THE  HOLY  SPIRIT  WITH  THE  MINDS 

OF  THE  IMPENITENT. 

The  Holy  Spirit  being  given  to  believers,  as 
in  the  *  preceding  chapter,  and  they  exercising 
themselves  as  laborers  and  intercessors  for  the 
sinful  and  the  needy,  then  the  Divine  influence 
will  follow  their  thought,  or  will  otherwise  reach 
the  minds  of  those  for  whom  they  make  sup¬ 
plication  ;  and  such  minds  will  (unless  unusual 
obstacles  prevent)  be  led  to  think  of  God,  of 
sin,  and  of  duty.  Wherever  there  is  effort  and 
prayer  for  the  glory  of  God  in  the  good  of 
men,  such  supplication  and  effort  produce  effect 
in  some  direction,  and  upon  some  person  or  per¬ 
sons  ;  usually,  as  we  have  said,  upon  those  for 
whom  the  supplication  is  offered.  Such  persons 
may  not  always  be  converted  ;  they  may  resist 
unto  death.  It  may  not  be  known  to  others 
that  their  minds  are  exercised  at  all  upon  the 


THE  HOL  V  SPIRIT. 


137 


subject  of  their  sinfulness ;  they  may  not  know 
it  themselves.  Their  thought  will  seem  to  them 
natural ;  and  they  will  attribute  it  to  no  unusual 
cause.  The  Spirit  works  in  harmony  with  the 
laws  of  mind.  Yet  all  this  does  not  militate 
against  the  fact  that  the  prayer  of  the  obedient 
believer  does  produce  results.  When  spiritual 
power  is  in  the  soul  of  the  suppliant,  and  his 
prayer  is  perseveringly  offered  for  the  glory  of 
God,  it  is  as  certainly  efficient  as  any  of  the 
forces  of  nature.  Prayer  is  probably  one  of  the 
moral  forces  of  the  spiritual  world.* 

The  result  of  prayer  may  sometimes  be  judg¬ 
ment  mingled  with  mercies.  The  spiritual  good 
may  begin  in  some  affliction  or  temporal  calamity 

falling  upon  a  person  or  a  family ;  some  prov- 

% 

idence  needful  to  produce  reflection,  or  to  abate 
the  power  of  the  prince  of  this  world  over  the 
soul ;  but  however  it  begins  or  advances,  where 
the  true  Church  prays,  the  Spirit  does  a  work 
of  judgment  and  mercy,  by  providence  and  by 
truth.  The  believer  will  be  strengthened,  the 
impenitent  awakened,  and  God  will  be  glorified. 
If  those  who  are,  in  such  circumstances,  en¬ 
lightened  by  truth,  and  “  made  partakers  of  the 


*  See  Appendix  I, —  Is  Prayer  a  Moral  Force? 


138 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF 


heavenly  gift,”  yield  their  hearts  and  lives  to 
Christ,  they  will  become  sons  of  God,  and  will 
receive  the  guidance  through  life  of  the  Pastor 
and  Bishop  of  the  soul.  But  if,  being  enlight¬ 
ened,  they  wickedly  resist,  occurrences  will  take 
place  in  the  seeming  natural  course  of  events 
which  will  induce  scepticism,  or  in  some  other 
way  render  it  more  difficult  for  them  ever  after 
to  become  reconciled  to  God.* 

§  47. —  Specific  work  of  the  Spirit  in  impenitent 

minds. 

We  come  now  to  notice  the  work  of  the 
Holy  Spirit  upon  the  unrenewed  mind.  The  fol¬ 
lowing  is  the  succinct  scriptural  statement. 

John  xvi,  8-11,  —  “When  the  Comforter  is 
come,  he  will  reprove  the  world  of  sin,  and  of 
righteousness,  and  of  judgment :  Of  sin,  because 
they  believe  not  on  me ;  Of  righteousness,  be¬ 
cause  I  go  to  the  Father  and  ye  see  me  no 
more ;  Of  judgment  because  the  prince  of  this 
world  is  judged.” 

The  teaching  of  this  passage,  it  will  be  seen, 
is  in  precise  accordance  with  what  has  been 


*  Heb.  vi,  4 — . 


THE  HOL  Y  SPIRIT. 


139 


shown  elsewhere  to  be  the  only  process  by  which 
man  can  advance  from  lower  to  higher  degrees 
of  moral  culture  and  moral  character.  In  order 
to  unity,  we  will,  in  this  place,  recapitulate 
briefly  the  statement  of  those  mental  necessities* 
which  are  met  by  the  Spirit  and  the  truth,  as 
set  forth  in  the  above  passage. 

(1.)  “  He  will  convict  the  world  of  sin.” 

It  has  been  shown  that  there  must  be  a  sense 
of  man’s  guilt  and  danger  existing  in  the  mind 
before  there  can  be  gratitude  and  love  to  the 
being  who  removes  the  guilt  and  rescues  from 
the  danger.  It  has  likewise  been  shown  that 
conviction  of  sin  is  a  necessary  prerequisite  to 
repentance.  A  man  can  not  conscientiously  turn 
from  evil  until  he  sees  and  feels  that  it  is  evil. 
To  suppose  that  any  one  will  for  unselfish  rea¬ 
sons  turn  from  a  course  of  life  which  he  does 
not  first  feel  to  be  wrong,  is  to  suppose  an 
absurdity.  Hence  the  necessity  of  the  Spirit’s 

✓ 

*  To  the  thoughtful  there  is  the  highest  evidence  of  the 
divinity  of  the  New  Testament,  seen  in  the  harmony  of  its 
principles  and  methods  with  the  laws  and  necessities  of  the 
human  mind. 


140 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF 


first  impression ,  as  stated  in  the  words  of  Christ, 
“  lie  will  convict  the  world  of  sin.” 

But  the  same  truth  would  not  be  adapted  to 
convince  all  classes  of  men  that  they  were  sin¬ 
ners.  Some  men  are  least  guilty  of  sins  which 
are  the  greatest  in  the  case  of  others.  In  order, 
therefore,  to  convince  any  particular  class  of  men 
of  their  sinfulness,  those  facts  must  be  alleged 
which  are  adapted  to  awaken  in  the  soul  a 
sense  of  personal  guilt.  In  the  days  of  the 
apostles  the  Gentiles  could  not  be  convicted  of 
sin  for  rejecting  and  crucifying  Christ ;  but  in 
the  case  of  the  Jews,  their  views  in  regard  to 
the  Messiah  were  such,  that  nothing  in  the 
whole  catalogue  of  crime  would  be  adapted  to 
convict  them  of  sin  so  deeply  as  •  the  thought 
that  Jesus,  whom  they  had  crucified,  was  the 
Messiah. 

On  the  contrary,  the  heathen,  upon  whom  there 
was  no  guilt  in  regard  to  the  rejection  of  Christ, 
would  be  convicted  of  sin  by  such  revelations 
of  the  holiness  of  God,  and  the  obligation  of 
the  moral  law,  as  would  condemn  their  idolatries, 
impurities  and  crimes.  But  in  all  cases,  it  was 
truth  as  taught  by  Christ ,  and  judgment  as  ad- 


THE  HOL  Y  SPIRIT. 


141 


ministered  by  Christ ,*  which  the  apostles  pre¬ 
sented  in  order  to  convince  the  world  of  sin. 

We  need  not  cite  instances  to  show  that  this 
was  the  general  order  of  apostolic  proceeding. 
That  quality  of  truth  was  used  which  was  adapt¬ 
ed  to  the  circumstances  and  moral  attainment  of 
those  whom  they  addressed.  The  Jews  were 
charged  with  sin  in  rejecting  Christ.  The  Gen¬ 
tiles  were  instructed  concerning  the  true  God, 
the  true  duty,  and  the  folly  and  sin  of  their 
idolatries ;  while  every  where  Christ  crucified 
was  presented  to  the  penitent  sinner  as  the  ob¬ 
ject  of  faith,  the  source  of  pardon,  and  the 
hope  of  glory. 

(2.)  “  He  shall  convince  the  world  of  right¬ 
eousness,  because  I  go  to  the  Father,  and  ye 
see  me  no  more.” 

But  it  requires  something  more  than  truth ; 
something  more  even  than  acknowledged  and 
adapted  truth,  to  make  men  feel  that  they  are 
sinners  in  the  sight  of  God.  The  Maker,  as  we 
have  noticed,  has  so  constituted  the  conscience 
that  it  will  enforce  no  truth  upon  the  will  unless 


*  Acts  xvii,  31. 


142 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF 


there  is  a  sense  of  God’s  authority  in  it.  Jesus 
Himself  taught  that  His  truth  would  not  have 
full  spiritual  efficacy  until  after  His  resurrection. 
By  His  resurrection  and  the  advent  of  the  Spirit, 
*  as  we  have  shown,  the  evidence  of  Divine  author¬ 
ity  would  be  given  to  His  teaching.  Then  it 
would  be  empowered  to  affect  the  moral  nature 
of  man ;  to  become  light  to  the  souls  of  the 
dark-minded,  and  life  in  the  souls  of  those  who 
believe.  Hence  the  second  impression  of  the 
Spirit  by  the  truth,  —  “He  shall  convince  the 
world  of  righteousness,  because  I  go  to  the 
Father,  and  ye  see  me  no  more.” 

Commentators  have  blundered*  even  more  in 
regard  to  the  import  of  this  passage  than  they 
usually  do  in  regard  to  the  spiritual  import  of 
John’s  gospel.  There  is  no  doubt  but  that  it 
was  designed  to  give  the  simple  rationale  of  the 
process  by  which  the  authority  of  God  was 
attached  to  the  life  and  death  of  Christ.  When 
Christ  was  raised  from  the  dead  and  taken  to 
heaven,  then  the  Divine  sanction  was  affixed  to 
His  character  and  instruction,  which  henceforth 
became  the  standard  of  righteousness.  When, 
under  the  preaching  of  the  apostles,  impressed 
by  the  Holy  Spirit,  men  came  to  believe  in  the 


THE  HOL  Y  SPIRIT. 


143 


ascension  of  Christ,  as  Saviour  and  Judge  of 
men  —  then  the  righteousness  of  Christ  became 
to  them  the  righteousness  that  God  required, 
and  wanting  which  they  would  feel  condemned 
as  sinners  against  God.  Hence,  men  were  con¬ 
vinced  of  righteousness  because  God  established 
Christ’s  rule  of  righteousness  by  the  resurrection 
from  the  dead.* 

i 

(3.)  “  He  shall  convict  the  world  of  judgment, 
because  the  prince  of  this  world  is  judged.” 

Another  co-existing  conviction  promised  by  the 
Spirit  through  the  truth  was  that  of  judgment 
or  condemnation  of  the  selfish  forms  and  de¬ 
ceptions  of  a  worldly  life.  Men  would  see,  as 
soon  as  they  believed  that  Christ’s  life  was  the 
life  that  God  approved  — -  that  the  prevailing 
spirit  of  the  world  was  condemned  by  His  loving 
and  self-denying  example.  The  selfishness  which 
dictated  the  factitious  manners,  and  the  low  and 
base  aims  of  worldly  minds,  would  be  revealed 
and  condemned  by  the  standard  of  living  and 
the  motive  of  action  which  Christ  had  estab¬ 
lished.  This  the  apostles  understood;  they  taught 

*  See  Appendix  L, — Old  and  New  Testament  Morality. 


144 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF 


that  the  gospel  both  revealed  sin  and  condemned 
it.  It  led  men  both  to  see  and  to  feel  the 
evil  of  the  world.  Eph.  v,  13, — “  All  things  that 
are  reproved  are  made  manifest  by  the  light:  for 
whatsoever  doth  make  manifest  is  light”*  In  the 
light  of  the  gospel  the  evil  was  seen,  and  by 
the  impression  of  the  Spirit  the  evil  was  felt. 
Thus,  in  the  minds  of  the  sanctified,  the  ruling 
spirit  of  the  world  was  condemned,  “  the  prince 
of  this  world  was  judged.” 

*  About  the  time  that  Paul  wrote  the  passage  from  which 
this  quotation  is  taken,  describing  the  moral  corruption  which 
prevailed  in  the  city  of  Ephesus,  Pliny,  one  of  the  wisest  and 
most  refined  men  of  his  age,  speaks  of  the  same  city  as  “  one 
of  the  luminaries  of  Asia.”  The  one  considered  her  as  full  of 
light,  the  other  looked  upon  her  as  full  of  darkness.  Both 
views  were  true,  according  to  the  standard  by  which  the  writers 
formed  their  judgment.  Pliny  saw  her  as  the  seat  of  the  highest 
civilization  that  a  people  without  revelation  had  attained.  But 
in  Paul’s  mind  their  impure  and  immoral  deeds  were  made 
manifest, —  the  false  external  of  this  world  was  judged.  Under¬ 
neath  the  glare  of  vainglory  he  saw  moral  corruption.  She  was 
“  a  whited  sepulchre,  full  of  dead  men’s  bones.”  The  descrip¬ 
tion,  we  fear,  is  not  inapplicable  in  a  moral  sense  to  Paris, 
New  York,  New  Orleans,  Chicago,  and  some  other  cities  both 
of  the  old  and  the  new  world.  If  an  angel  were  to  visit  the 
resorts  of  fashion  and  wealth,  he  would  frequently  see,  under 
the  tinsel  which  opulence  furnishes,  the  corrupt,  sensuous,  and 
selfish  motives  which  render  the  soul  a  “  cage  of  unclean  birds.” 


THE  HOL  V  SPIRIT. 


145 


§  48. —  The  promised  convictions  of  the  Spirit  ex¬ 
perienced  by  those  who  hear  the  gospel  under 
spiritual  impression. 

It  has  been,  in  every  age  since  the  gospel  was 
first  proclaimed,  verified  in  the  v  experience  of 
tens  of  thousands,  that  the  subjective  effects 
which  Christ  promised  by  His  Spirit  have  been 
produced.  Setting  aside  instances  of  sympathetic 
emotion,  which  do  not  arise  from  a  sense  of 
heart-guiltiness,  and  looking  charitably  upon  other 
movements  which  may  have  been  produced  by 
sectarian  rather  than  sacred  zeal ;  apart  from  all 
such  cases,  there  are  multitudes  of  persons  that 
have  felt  the  convicting  power  of  truth,  when 
that  truth  has  been  presented  in  the  presence 
of  Christians  whose  minds  were  exercised  by 
faith  and  prayer.  Many  have  in  such  circum¬ 
stances  been  awakened  to  see  the  evil  of  sin, 
and  to  realize  the  claims  of  God  upon  them, 
with  a  degree  of  interest  that  they  never  felt 
before.*  The  three  co-existing  impressions  —  sin, 

*  The  writer  has  seen  in  two  instances  respectable  business 
men,  from  New  York  city,  rise,  exercised  by  a  deep  sense  of 
sin,  to  ask  the  prayers  of  a  congregation  in  a  distant  town, 
after  hearing  a  single  sermon,  where  they  knew  no  one  present, 

10 


146 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF 


righteousness,  and  judgment, — promised  as  the 
work  of  the  Spirit  through  the  truth,  have  been 
produced  in  their  minds.  If  we  converse  with 
friends  who  are  spiritually  interested  in  religious 
truth,  in  some  respects  we  may  find  their  exer¬ 
cises  different.  Some  do  not  feel  that  in  any 
one  particular  they  have  been  great  transgressors. 
Many  are  troubled  that  they  do  not  feel  more 
the  guilt  of  their  sins.  But  notwithstanding  di¬ 
versity  of  views  in  regard  to  their  own  difficul¬ 
ties  and  deserts,  there  is  always  the  same  con¬ 
sciousness  of  the  three-fold  impression , —  sin,  right¬ 
eousness,  JUDGMENT. 

Ask  any  one  of  them  if  they  feel  that "  their 
heart  is  hard  and  sinful  ?  Oh  yes,  they  will  say, 
they  see  that,  but  they  do  not  feel  it  as  they 
ought.  Ask  them  if  they  have  seen  their 
thoughts  to  be  selfish  and  evil  in  the  sight  of 
God  ?  Oh  yes,  they  have  seen  that ;  and  have 
tried  to  control  their  thoughts,  and  make  them¬ 
selves  better,  but  have  failed.  They  know,  they 
will  often  tell  you,  that  their  heart  is  in  a 
wrong  state,  and  that  they  do  not  feel  willing 

and  no  one  knew  them  until  subsequent  inquiry.  No  word 
was  said  and  no  prayer  uttered  except  the  ordinary  service  of 
the  Sabbath. 


i 


THE  HOL  Y  SPIRIT. 


147 


to  do  the  will  of  Christ.  By  such  statements 
concerning  their  exercises  it  will  be  apparent  to 
enlightened  minds,  although  it  may  not  be  to 
themselves,  that  they  are  convinced  of  sin ;  some 
more  deeply  than  others ;  but  still  the  conscious¬ 
ness,  in  kind,  is  the  same.  They  see  the  evil 
of  sin,  and  feel  it  to  some  extent.  The  “I”  of 
the  mind,  which  sees  the  thought,  is  convicted, 
and  is  opposing  selfish  exercises  and  wrong  pro¬ 
pensities.  Like  Paul,  in  the  Pharisee  state,  such 
persons  “  consent  unto  the  law  that  it  is  good ; 
but  when  they  would  do  good,  evil  is  present 
with  them.” 

The  second  impression  also,  a  sense  of  right¬ 
eousness,  is  found  in  their  mind.  It  is  the  per¬ 
ception  “  that  the  law  is  good”  that  enables 
them  to  feel  the  evil  of  their  heart.  They  con¬ 
sent  to  the  law,  and  yet  find  in  themselves  a 
want  of  conformity  to  it.  They  have  begun  to 
read  the  Scriptures  and  to  study  righteousness 
as  it  is  revealed  there  ;  and  they  approve  it. 
They  may  have  had  speculative  ideas  of  sin  be¬ 
fore,  and  compunction  for  wrong  doing  towards 
others ;  this,  all  persons  who  possess  a  natural 
conscience,  will  sometimes  experience.  But  now 
they  feel — as  did  David  —  that  they  have  “  sin- 


148 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF 


ned  against  Grod ,  and  done  the  evil  in  his 
sight .”  *  Their  conscience  accuses  them  of  in¬ 
gratitude  and  disobedience  toward  their  Divine 
Benefactor.  The  truth  of  Scripture  has  now  for 
them  a  sense  of  God  in  it ;  and  in  its  light 
they  judge  of  their  past  life  and  their  present 
duty. 

And,  finally,  an  awakened  mind  feels,  in  a 
sense  difficult  to  express,  that  the  forms  and 
professions  of  the  world  are  hollow  and  selfish. 
And  at  this  point  the  issue  between  Christ  and 
Belial  for  ascendancy  in  the  soul  is  usually  made. 
The  ties  of  companionship  and  the  power  of 
worldly  habits  and  associations  are  strong  —  so 
strong,  that  many  who  see  the  danger,  and  de¬ 
sire  a  better  life,  have  not  sufficient  of  principle 
and  purpose  to  emancipate  themselves  from  a 
service  which  their  awakened  conscience  con¬ 
demns.  Some  look  up,  and  under  the  impulse 
of  the  Spirit,  struggle  to  enter  in  at  the  strait 

t 

gate ;  while  others,  of  more  feeble  purpose  and 
less  moral  principle,  “desire — seek  to  enter  in, 
but  are  not  able.” 

Thus  the  three-fold  conviction  of  the  Spirit 
is  distinct,  notwithstanding  the  varied  exercises 


*  Ps.  li,  4. 


THE  HOL  Y  SPIRIT. 


149 


caused  by  different  temperaments,  histories,  de¬ 
grees  of  knowledge  and  degrees  of  sin.  In  the 
case  of  all  adult  persons  who  have  lived  a  selfish 
life  antecedent  to  conversion,  there  will  be  found 
in  their  minds  the  three  co-existing  impressions 
—  sin,  righteousness,  judgment  —  in  the  sense 
above  described. 


49. — The  aivakening  of  the  lost  sinner ,  and  his 
return  to  Grod ,  as  illustrated  by  the  Lord  Jesus. 


The  parable  of  the  prodigal  son  is  a  beautiful, 
affectionate,  and  striking  illustration  of  the  con¬ 
victed  consciousness,  and  the  state  of  mind  in 
which  a  lost  sinner  returns  to  God.  That  the 
parallel  may  be  more  distinct,  we  will  present 
the  figure  and  its  fact  in  opposite  columns. 


The  prodigal  takes  his  por¬ 
tion  of  goods  and  leaves  home 
to  follow  his  own  will  and  seek 
his  own  happiness  in  a  far-off 
country. 


So  the  son  of  the  Divine 
Father  takes  the  talents  com¬ 
mitted  to  him,  and,  if  not  a  be¬ 
liever,  at  the  age  of  responsi¬ 
bility  he  departs  and  seeks  his 
own  will  and  his  happiness  in 
the  world. 


The  wandering  son,  having 
wasted  his  substance,  is  sent  to 
feed  swine,  and  is  willing  to 
live  on  swines’  food. 


The  wandering  sinner,  having 
wasted  his  energies  in  sensual 
and  selfish  schemes,  seeks  to 
satisfy  his  soul  with  earthly  and 
animal  good. 


150 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF 


No  man  gave  the  prodigal, 
even  of  the  husks  he  desired. 
He  found  no  satisfying  good 
in  any  earthly  source  ;  husks 
would  not  satisfy  the  appetite. 


Finally,  through  the  effect 
of  his  experience,  and  by  re¬ 
flection  upon  his  destitute  con¬ 
dition,  the  prodigal  “  comes  to 
himself,”  begins  to  reflect  —  to 
realize  the  danger  and  want  of 
his  present  state.  He  thinks 
of  his  father,  and  of  the  sup¬ 
plies  and  peace  in  his  distant 
home. 

The  prodigal,  after  serious 
thought,  says  to  himself,  I  will 
arise  —  go  home,  and  confess 
myself  a  sinner  in  the  sight 
of  God  and  my  father,  and 
say  that  I  am  unworthy  to  be 
called  a  son. 

v 

The  prodigal,  in  view  of  his 
past  sin  and  his  unworthiness, 
is  willing  to  return  and  labor 
and  be  treated  as  a  hired  serv¬ 
ant,  feeling  that  his  father 
will  do  right  if  he  obeys  his 


So  the  sinner  tries  but  fails 
to  make  himself  happy.  He 
turns  from  one  man  to  another, 
and  from  one  thing  to  another, 
but  nothing  temporal  will  satis¬ 
fy  spiritual  wants.  It  is  as 
husks  to  the  appetite. 

So  the  sinner  “  comes  to 
himself.”  He  becomes  conscious 
of  his  present  unsatisfied  and 
sinful  condition.  He  thinks  of 
his  heavenly  Father,  and  begins 
'seriously  to  meditate  upon  his 
spiritual  wants,  and  the  supplies 
offered  in  the  gospel. 

\ 

So  the  sinner  purposes  to 
arise  and  return  to  the  home 
of  the  soul.  He  feels  that  he 
has  sinned  against  heaven  and 
in  the  sight  of  God,  and  that 
he  is  unworthy  to  be  called  a 
a  son,  and  often  in  heart- 
prayer  confesses  his  sin 

So  the  awakened  sinner, 
after  purposing  to  arise  and  go 
to  his  Father,  finally  DOES  ARISE 
and  goes  towards  home.  He 
goes  feeling  he  is  unworthy, 
and  asking  to  be  made  as  a 


THE  HOL  Y  SPIRIT. 


151 


will.  Thus  he  returns  to  obey 
without  making  any  conditions. 


The  father  sees  the  prodi¬ 
gal  coming  at  a  great  distance, 
and  goes  out  to  meet  him. 
The  distance  is  at  first  great, 
so  that  they  are  some  time 
approaching  each  other  ;  but 
they  meet,  and  the  father  re¬ 
ceives  the  penitent  as  a  son 
that  “  was  lost  but  is  found.” 

There  was  rejoicing  in  the 
presence  of  the  father,  and 
among  the  other  servants,  when 
the  prodigal  returned.  His 
soiled  garments  were  exchang¬ 
ed  for  clean  robes,  and  a 
feast  of  social  enjoyment  was 
held  to  celebrate  his  arrival  at 
home. 


The  reason  why  the  father 
of  the  prodigal  rejoiced  was, 
that  his  “  son  who  was  dead 
is  alive  again ;  he  was  lost 
but  is  found.” 


hired  servant  —  not  demanding 
the  joy  and  privileges  of  a  son, 
but  willing  to  obey  as  a  humble 
penitent,  and  trust  his  Father 
without  conditions. 

So  God  sees  the  sinner  at  a 
great  distance  when  he  first 
begins  to  think  of  his  sin  and 
his  duty.  He  goes  out  to  meet 
him  by  His  providence  and  His 
Spirit.  And  he  who  is  return¬ 
ing,  willing  to  obey  as  a  ser¬ 
vant,  is  met  and  received  as  a 
son. 

So  when  the  penitent  sinner 
returns,  “  There  is  joy  in  the 
presence  of  the  angels  of  God.” 
The  servants  of  the  Divine 
Master  on  earth  likewise  re¬ 
joice.  There  is  social  joy  in 
the  Church :  and  the  heart  of 
the  wanderer  is  now  purified 
by  faith  that  works  by  love, 
and  he  puts  on  the  garments 
of  righteousness. 

So  there  is  joy  in  heaven — 
because  a  soul  dead  in  sin 
lives  now  to  God ;  a  soul  lost 
to  happiness  and  usefulness, 
lives  to  glorify  God  and  benefit 


men. 


152 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF 


Thus  has  the  great  promise  of  the  Redeemer 
been  verified  —  in  the  history  of  the  Church, 
in  the  experience  of  men,  and  in  harmony  with 
the  specific  illustrations  of  the  Great  Teacher 
himself.  From  the  day  of  Pentecost  to  the 
present  hour,  that  promise  has  been  fulfilled  in 
the  sanctification  of  saints,  and  in  the  convic¬ 
tion  and  conversion  of  sinners ;  and  the  work 
will  go  on  increasing  in  prevalence,  purity,  and 
power,  until  the  end  of  the  dispensation.  Men 
may  hate  the  truth  and  reject  the  witness,  but 
still  “the  counsel  of  God  stands  sure;”  and 
wherever  the  truth  is  preached,  men’s  destiny 
for  mercy  or  for  judgment  is  connected  with 
the  disposition  they  manifest  towards  Christ,  who 
comes  to  them  in  the  influence  of  the  Divine 
Spirit.  1  John  v.  10,  —  “  He  that  believeth  on 
the  Son  hath  the  witness  in  himself :  he  that 
believeth  not  God,  hath  made  him  a  liar :  because 
he  believeth  not  the  record  that  God  gave  of 
his  Son.” 


§  50.  —  The  son’s  life  at  home. 

A  sense  of  his  lost  condition  and  faith  in  his 
father’s  mercy  brought  the  wanderer  home. 
When  he  has  returned,  faith  and  obedience  are 


THE  HOL  Y  SPIRIT 


153 


the  impulse  and  the  law  of  a  happy  home  life. 
But  some  Christians  err  by  supposing  that  the 
life  of  faith  is  a  constant  flow  of  joyful  emotion. 
Sometimes  joy  is  sought  with  a  selfish  motive, 
which  opens  the  mind  to  deception,  or  which 
hinders  the  peace  granted  upon  unconditional 
submission  to  the  will  of  God.  Men  are  so  con¬ 
stituted  that  strong  emotion  can  not  be  lasting; 
reaction  must  follow.  “Peace”*  is  the  promise 
of  the  Saviour ,  and  to  the  Christian  a  perma¬ 
nent  peace,  hallowed  by  love,  may  be  enjoyed. 
This  is  the  believer’s  privilege  in  circumstances 
where  there  can  be  no  peace  to  those  unrecon¬ 
ciled  to  God.  The  things  of  the  world  with  him 
are  subservient  to  higher  interests,  and  whether 
circumstances  be  propitious  or  adverse,  he  is  still 
grateful,  because  he  believes  that  “  all  things 
work  together  for  good  to  those  who  love  God.” 

The  eldest  son  in  the  parable  had  always  been 
at  home  —  had  obeyed  from  his  youth ;  and 
although  it  is  affirmed  that  all  that  the  father 
had  was  his,  yet  he  could  not  experience  the 
extreme  joy  of  the  returned  prodigal,  because 
the  sudden  change  from  death  to  life  was  no 

*  John  xiv,  27  —  “  Peace  I  leave  with  you,  my  peace  I  give 
unto  you.” 


154 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF 


part  of  his  experience.  Yet  he  had  the  father’s 
favor,  and  he  was  the  father’s  heir.  So  those 
who  from  childhood  obey  God. 

But  the  prodigal  son  returns  to  obey  the  will 
of  his  father.  The  will  of  God,  and  not  his 
own  will  is  the  law  of  life  with  the  believer. 
But  while  -the  law  is  obeyed  as  a  rule  of  duty, 
that  law  is  likewise  an  expression  of  the  will 
and  heart  of  his  Divine  Benefactor.  Christian 
life  is  not  therefore,  the  service  of  duty  under 
the  impulse  of  conscience  alone  ;  the  impulse  of 
love  is  united  with  the  element  of  conscience. 
Thus  love  to  men,  as  the  object  of  effort,  and 

i 

love  to  Christ,  as  the  author  of  effort,  distin¬ 
guish  the  son  from  the  servant  in  the  life  of 
faith. 

But  still  the  will  of  Christ  is  supreme  law 
with  the  believer.  He  passes  from  the  technical 
righteousness  of  the  formalist,  and  the  impu¬ 
ted  righteousness  of  the  dogmatist,  to  the  actual 
righteousness  of  the  obedient  in  heart.  He  can 
not  do  any  thing  deliberately  that  he  knows 
Christ  will  disapprove.  At  home  and  abroad,  in 
private  and  in  public,  a  true  Christian  will  do 
right  —  right  in  testimony  and  right  in  action. 
Righteousness  is  not  a  technical  but  a  cardinal 


THE  HOL  V  SPIRIT. 


155 


principle  of  the  gospel.  John  Huss,  John  Knox, 
John  Bunyan,  Jeremy  Taylor,  William  Penn,  the 
Wesleys,  would  neither  one  of  them  have  vio¬ 
lated  his  conscience  for  the  gift  of  a  kingdom. 
Christ’s  righteousness  made  them  righteous,  not 
only  in  name  but  in  fact. 

In  all  things  the  Christian  has  faith  in  God. 
He  believes  God  hears  prayer.  He  sees  the 
divine  hand  in  all  the  providences  that  come  to 
pass,  small  and  great.  He  knows  this  is  a  state 
of  probation,  and  that  in  a  world  of  imperfec¬ 
tion,  where  the  good  and  the  evil  are  mingled, 
the  same  external  providence  often  befalls  both 
classes.  But  he  is  sure  nothing  will  befall  him 
without  some  wise  design,  either  to  discipline 
him  for  some  evil  or  to  remove  from  him  some 
temptation  ;  and  he  relies  with  perfect  assurance 
on  the  promise  that  “  all  things  work  together 
for  good  to  those  who  love  God,  to  those  who 
are  the  called  according  to  his  purpose.”  The 
believer’s  faith  transmutes  adverse  providences 
into  spiritual  good.  The  providence  that  renders 
the  unreconciled  more  selfish,  sanctifies  the  be¬ 
lieving  mind.  Thus  the  truth  he  believes,  the 
discipline  he  receives,  and  the  duties  he  dis¬ 
charges,  all  combine  to  fit  the  Christian  for  the 


156 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF 


“  inheritance  of  the  saints  in  light.”  And  when 
the  end  comes,  his  sense  of  immortality  is  pro¬ 
duced  by  the  presence  of  the  Holy  Spirit  in  his 
soul,  and  his  hope  of  heaven  is  not  by  reason, 
but  by  faith  in  Christ,  from  whom  he  consciously 
draws  eternal  life,  as  the  branch  lives  by  its 
union  with  the  vine.  Having  “  fought  the  good 
fight  and  finished  his  course,”  he  departs  to  re¬ 
ceive  the  “  crown  of  life,  which  God,  the  right¬ 
eous  Judge,  will  give  him  at  that  day,  and  not 
to  him  only,  but  to  all  them  also  that  love  his 
appearing.” 


THE  HOL  Y  SPIRIT. 


157 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

SUPPLEMENTARY. 

In  the  preceding  sections  on  prayer  and  the 
Holy  Spirit,  the  exposition  does  not  include  all 
the  relations  of  the  subject,  and  miraculous  gifts 
by  the  Spirit  are  not  noticed.  We  here  sup¬ 
plement  the  preceding  thoughts  by  additional 
sections.  The  whole,  we  hope,  may  form  a 
Scriptural  Monograph  on  the  Doctrine  of  the 
Holy  Spirit — a  subject  which  should  be  held  as 
of  vital  religious  interest  by  all  believers  in  the 
New  Dispensation  of  our  Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus 
Christ. 

§  53. — The  promise  of  the  Holy  Spirit  in  answer 
to  grayer ,  is  in  harmony  with  the  method  of 
the  gospel ,  that  grace  is  bestowed  upon  one  in 
order  that  benefit  may  be  conferred  upon  others . 

Jesus  prayed  frequently,  importunately  and 
submissively ;  and  He  promised  His  disciples 


158 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF 


that,  if  they  obeyed  His  commandments ,  whatso¬ 
ever  they  asked  of  the  Father,  regarding  Him 
in  the  name  or  character  manifested  in  Christ, 
would  be  done  for  them.  They  were  invited  to 
ask  in  order  that  their  joy  might  be  full,  and 
in  order  that  they  might  be  qualified  to  com¬ 
municate  to  others  the  blessing  they  had  re¬ 
ceived. 

*  The  special  promise  of  the  New  Testament  on 
the  subject  of  prayer  is,  that  prayer  for  the 
Holy  Spirit  will  be  answered  when  the  believer 
prays  for  grace  to  enable  him  to  benefit  others ,  as 
stated  in  the  passage  given  in  Luke  xi.  The 
point  and  intent  of  the  passage,  as  stated  and 
illustrated  by  Jesus,*  is  not  that  those  who  pray 
for  the  Holy  Spirit  shall  receive  it  for  their  own 

*  “And  he  said  unto  them,  which  of  you  shall  have  a  friend, 
and  shall  go  unto  him  at  midnight,  and  shall  say  unto  him  — 
Friend,  lend  me  three  loaves,  for  a  friend  of  mine,  in  his 
journey,  has  come  to  me,  and  I  have  nothing  to  set  before 
him.  And  he  from  within  shall  answer  and  say, —  Trouble  me 
not,  the  door  is  now  shut,  and  my  children  are  with  me  in 
bed  ;  I  cannot  rise  and  give  thee.  I  say  unto  you,  though  he 
wrill  not  rise  and  give  him  because  he  is  his  friend,  yet  because 
of  his  importunity  he  will  rise  and  give  him  as  many  as  he 
ncedeth.  And  so  I  say  unto  you,  Ask,  and  it  shall  be  given 
you  ”  for  your  friends. —  Luke  xi,  1-14. 


THE  HOL  Y  SPIRIT. 


159 


spiritual  good.  This  is  true  in  a  relative  sense. 
As  food  taken  to  give  us  bodily  strength  is  the 
order  of  nature  to  qualify  us  for  work,  so  the 
Spirit  gives  spiritual  strength.  But  the  aim  of 
the  benediction  is  not  ultimate  with  the  recipi¬ 
ent.  The  same  end  for  which  Christ  died  is 
the  aim  of  the  endowment  —  to  bless  one  in 
answer  to  prayer,  that  he  may  be  the  instru¬ 
ment  of  conveying  the  same  blessing  to  others. 

If  Christ  has  a  kingdom  in  this  world  to  be 
established  under  God  by  human  agency,  then 
providence  and  power  would  be  given  to  accom¬ 
plish  the  aim  of  that  kingdom,  which  is  that 
members  of  the  human  brotherhood  should  be 
instrumental  in  saving  each  other.  Thus  the 
analogy  of  faith  sanctions  a  true  exposition. 

Now  the  above  construction,  which  is  the 
scriptural  one,  brings  prayer  into  accordance  with 
the  plan  and  process  of  gospel  duty,  as  devel¬ 
oped  in  preceding  sections.  Christians  who  desire 
to  follow  Christ  in  labor  for  human  good  should 
understand  what  expositors  have  failed  to  notice 
—  that  the  unreserved  promise  of  the  Holy  Spirit 
in  the  gospel  is  predicated  upon  the  fact  that 
the  suppliant  seeks  grace  for  himself  that  he  may 
impart  good  to  others .  The  illustration  by  the 


160 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF 


Saviour  precedes  the  promise  recorded  in  the 
same  passage.  The  promise  is  the  same  in  Matt, 
vii,  6-12,  where  the  parable  is  omitted.  The 
Spiritual  import  of  the  passage  is  plain  and  im¬ 
pressive.  Jesus  gives  the  bread  of  life,  as  it  is 
written,  “  he  that  eateth  of  this  bread  shall 
never  die.”  The  suppliant  is  deeply  interested 
for  his  friend,  but  cannot  himself  furnish  the 
means  of  life  to  the  wayfarer  on  his  journey  to 
the  judgment.  The  Saviour  is  the  friend  of  the 
suppliant,  who  goes  to  Him  and  seeks  importu¬ 
nately  for  the  needed  loaves,  which  he  receives 
in  order  to  convey  them  to  the  one  for  whom 
he  intercedes. 

Harmonists  generally  have  supposed  that  the 
promise  in  Matt,  vii,  and  Luke  xi,  was  spoken 
on  different  occasions.  There  is  no  reason  what¬ 
ever  for  this  division  of  the  text.  Besides,  if 
thus  divided,  the  full  record  elucidates  the  abbre¬ 
viated  one.  If  Dr.  Robinson  had  urged  one-half 
the  reasons  to  show  that  the  passages  are  one 
that  he  has  to  show  that  the  Sermon  on  the 
Mount  is  the  same  in  the  two  evangelists,  the 
first  case  would  have  been  more  evident  than 
the  second.  Luke  evidently  designed  to  give  the 
whole  passage  concerning  prayer,  and  to  sepa- 


THE  HOL  Y  SPIRIT. 


161 


rate  it  from  its  contexts  in  time  and  place.  In 
the  order  of  the  passage  likewise  the  gospel 
economy  requires  that  the  illustration  by  the 
parable  in  Luke  should  come  between  the  Lord’s 
prayer  and  the  promise  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  The 
Lord’s  prayer  is  preliminary  to  duty.  It  is  morn¬ 
ing  worship  and  supplication  for  daily  strength, 
pardon  and  guidance  :  (a)  Let  the  Divine  name 

—  [character  —  as  revealed  in  Christ]  —  be  hal¬ 
lowed.  (5)  Let  the  Divine  kingdom  be  estab¬ 
lished  in  the  earth,  (e)  Give  us-  our  daily  bread. 

( d )  Forgive  us  our  sins,  when  we  forgive  others. 

(e)  Save  us  when  tempted.  (/)  Deliver  from 
evil  influence. —  When  their  devotion  had  thus 
risen  to  the  name  of  God  in  Christ,  wrhen  His 
kingdom  had  been  presented  as  the  first  inter¬ 
est,  when  they  had  prayed  for  daily  strength 
and  daily  mercy,  when  they  had  sought  the 
guidance  of  Providence  and  succor  in  tempta^ 
tion  —  then ,  being  thus  qualified  by  personal  de-^ 
votion  for  personal  effort,  the  illustration  in  Luke 
intervenes,  and  the  Holy  Spirit  is  promised  to 
aid  the  disciple,  thus  endowed,  to  communicate 
spiritual  good  personally  to  the  friend  for  whom 
he  prays.  Then  follows  the  promise  with  the 

connective  joining  the  two  passages :  “  And  I 

11 


162 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF 


say  unto  you,  ask  and  it  shall  be  given  you  ” 
— for  the  subjects  of  your  ‘prayer.  “  Seek  ”  — 
zvith  the  motive  this  man  had  —  “  and  ye  shall 
find.”  “  Knock  ”  — for  the  same  purpose  —  “  and 
it  shall  be  opened  unto  you.”  “  For  if  ye  being 
evil  know  how  to  give  good  gifts  to  your .  chil¬ 
dren,  how  much  more  will  your  Heavenly  Father 
give  his  Holy  Spirit  to  them  that  ask  him.” 
Give  it  to  bless  them  first  with  a  satisfying 
portion,  and  thus  qualify  them  as  mediums  to 
impart  the  same  good  to  others. 

Thus  the  unconditional  promise  of  the  Spirit  is 
conditional  upon  the  believer  asking  for  the  bread 
of  life  that  he  may  be  the  instrument  of  con¬ 
veying  spiritual  good  to  others. 


§  54. —  The  subjects  of  prayer  should  be  specifically 
in  vieiv  of  the  mind  of  the  suppliant ,  when  he 
cannot  personally  communicate  with  them . 

The  New  Testament  requires  us  to  supply  the 
temporal  needs  of  the  children  of  want  as  an 
antecedent  to  spiritual  effort  for  their  good  (James 
ii).  The  Christian  philanthropist  is  distinguished 
from  others  who  do  good,  in  that  the  motive  of 


THE  HOL  Y  SPIRIT. 


163 


one  ends  on  the  earthly  condition  of  the  object, 
while  that  of  the  other  makes  earthly  benefits 
auxiliary  to  the  spiritual  good  of  the  soul.  One 
administers  to  man  as  an  animal,  the  other  to 
man  as  haying  a  higher  spiritual  nature.  But 
where  temporal  needs  are  not  in  the  case,  and 
where  absence  and  other  circumstances  separate 
the  suppliant  from  the  object  of  his  prayer,  then 
it  is  an  important  question  whether  or  not  there 
be  a  connection  in  thought  between  the  mind  of 
the  suppliant  and  the  subject  of  his  supplication. 
Intercession  for  rulers  and  for  the  general  good 
of  the  State  and  society  is,  no  doubt,  a  duty  ; 
but  even  in  such  cases  it  may  be  supposed  that 
the  persons  and  the  ends  desired  are  in  the 
mind  of  the  suppliant.  But  it  is  very  question¬ 
able,  from  Bible  premises,  and  from  many  marked 
cases  of  answer  to  prayer,*  whether  the  law  of 
impression  upon  one  mind  in  accordance  with  the 
prayer  of  another  which  is  energized  by  the 
Holy  Spirit,  does  not  require  the  special  per¬ 
sonal  interest  of  the  suppliant  for  the  object  of 
his  intercession.  The  case  of  the  text  for  the 
wayfarer  in  life’s  journey  —  the  prayers  for  Peter 


*  See  notes  at  the  end  of  the  chapter. 


164 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF 


in  prison,  indeed  all  the  Scripture  cases,  directly 
or  indirectly,  imply  that  the  objects  of  prayer 
were  pressing  upon  the  minds  of  the  suppliants. 

If  there  be  truth  in  this  exposition  two  things 
are  required — first,  that  the  suppliant  has  him¬ 
self  spiritual  endowment  from  the  Lord ;  and, 
second,  that  the  object  of  his  intercession  should 
be  a  special  interest  upon  his  mind  when  he 
prays. 

If  these  views  are  warranted,  then  those  re¬ 
quests  presented  at  the  Fulton  street  prayer 
meeting,  and  other  Christian  assemblages,  which 
speak  in  such  general  language  as  this:  Prayer 
is  requested  for  a  certain  man  in  Rochester ,  or  at 
Natchez ,  or  at  the  West ,  who  is  becoming  intem¬ 
perate , —  such  requests  give  no  direction  to  the 
minds  of  those  who  pray ;  and  the  supplication 
offered  cannot  be  under  the  guidance  of  the 
Holy  Spirit,  who  indicates  subjects  of  prayer  and 
gives  impression  in  regard  to  those  subjects. 
The  fact  that  such  a  request  is  presented  shows 
that  some  Christian  mind  has  a  spirit  of  prayer 
for  the  subject  referred  to,  and  good  may  reach 
him,  although  not  through  the  indefinite  suppli¬ 
cation  requested. 


THE  HOL  Y  SPIRIT. 


165 


§  53. —  The  miraculous  gifts  of  the  Holy  Spirit 

were  not  the  product  of  the  Indwelling  Spirit , 

in  the  ordinary  sense. 

There  were  occasions  when  the  life  and  labors 
of  the  apostles  were  guarded  by  a  special  Prov¬ 
idence,  and  when  miraculous  powers  were  exerted 
as  testimony  to  others,  that  God  approved  their 
ministry.  Gifts  of  healing,  knowledge  of  future 
events,  and  the  abused  gift  of  tongues,  were 
among  these.  Such  manifestations  were  Divine 
interpositions,  on  special  occasions,  through  the 
apostles,  rather  than  the  normal  manifestations 
of  their  internal  spiritual  life.  These  miraculous 
interventions,  granted  only  in  certain  exigencies, 
were  to  cease,  while  the  indwelling  Spirit  was 
to  remain  with  believers  until  the  end  of  the 
dispensation. 

The  gift  of  tongues  is  one  of  the  most  diffi¬ 
cult  subjects  which  an  interpreter  finds  in  the 
New  Testament.  Whether  the  annunciation  of 
the  foreign  language  at  Pentecost  was  by  the 
magnetic  current  from  the  brain  of  the  apostles, 
which  appeared  as  tongues,  separated  into  two 
points,  like  flame,  upon  their  heads  ;  or  whether 
it  was  through  their  proper  organs  of  speech,  or 


166 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF 


both,  we  have  now  no  way  of  determining. 
Subsequently,  it  is  evident,  no  such  tongues  of 
flame  appeared,  and  the  exercise  of  this  gift  was 
discouraged.  So  much  so  was  this  the  case,  that 
Paul  had  to  admonish  the  churches  not  to  for¬ 
bid  it  altogether.  With  the  limited  permission 
granted  by  the  apostle  these  were  conditions 
which  excluded  all  fanatical  utterances :  —  such 
utterances,  perhaps,  of  sincere  enthusiasts  as 
those  who,  in  the  days  of  Edward  Irving,  spoke 
in  unintelligible  voices  which  they  believed  were 
given  by  the  Holy  Ghost.  The  apostle  limited 
the  utterance  to  words  which  would  edify  the 
church,  and  urged  his  own  reticence  as  an  ex¬ 
ample  to  restrain  the  practice  in  others.  The 
gift  of  tongues  was  not  one  of  the  promised  gifts 
of  the  Spirit,  hence  its  manifestation  and  his¬ 
tory  differ  from  other  supernatural  endowments 
promised  by  the  Lord.  Tongues  were  for  a  sign, 
and  on  the  day  of  Pentecost  they  were  a  spe¬ 
cial  aid  in  introducing-  the  gospel. 

But  there  were  specific  promises  in  regard  to 
the  miraculous  manifestations  of  the  Holy  Spirit, 
as  there  were  in  regard  to  its  fruits  in  the 
souls  of  believers.  One  of  the  transcendent 
gifts  promised,  was  that,  to  some  of  the  disci- 


THE  HOL  Y  SPIRIT 


167 


pies,  in  certain  cases,  tlie  events  of  the  future 
would  be  made  known.  “  He  will  show  you 
things  to  come.”  Hence,  Stephen  was  put  to 
death  for  affirming  that  God  would  destroy  the 
city  of  Jerusalem,  and  change  the  institutions 
established  by  Moses.  Paul  informed  the  cap¬ 
tain  of  the  vessel  endangered  by  the  storm  that 
the  crew  would  be  saved.  Agabus  informed 
Paul  of  the  bonds  and  imprisonment  that  awaited 
him  at  Jerusalem.  And  both  Paul  and  Peter 
distinctly  delineated  the  features  of  the  incom¬ 
ing  Papal  apostasy,  that  ruled  the  darkness 
during  the  eclipse  of  the  written  Word  in  the 
dark  ages. 

The  gift  of  healing  was  likewise  promised  in 
connection  with  the  commission  to  preach  the 
gospel.  It  was  not  accomplished  at  will  by  the 
grace  of  the  indwelling  Spirit,  but  was  exer¬ 
cised  through  the  disciples,  in  answer  to  them 
supplication,  and  as  exigences  might  require. 
Hence  the  disciples  pray  (Acts  iv,  80),  “  Grant 
unto  thy  servants  boldness  to  speak  the  word, 
by  stretching  forth  thy  hand  to  heal,  and  that 
signs  and  wonders  may  be  done  in  the  name  of 
thy  holy  child  Jesus.”  While  the  apostles,  there¬ 
fore,  realized  their  dependence  upon  miraculous 


168 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF 


interposition  for  prestige  and  acceptance  in  cases 
of  exigency,  they  recognized  the  fact  that  the 
power,  as  to  time  and  place,  was  in  the  hands 
of  God. 

There  was  an  intelligent  discrimination  made, 
by  the  first  disciples,  between  the  life  of  the 
indwelling  Spirit  and  those  acts  of  power  which 
God  accomplished  through  their  agency.  For 
the  agency  which  they  exerted  in  connection 
with  the  promptings  of  the  Spirit  they  felt  them¬ 
selves  responsible.  Hence  the  precepts,  “  walk 
in  the  Spirit, ” —  “be  filled  with  the  Spirit,” — 
“praying  in  the  Spirit,”  —  “grieve  not  the  Holy 
Spirit  of  God.”  But  miraculous  agency  was 
subject  to  the  Divine  will,  and  although  exerted 
for  them  and  through  them,  the  power,  as  to 
time  and  place,  was  above  their  control,  —  was 
exercised  only  on  special  occasions,  and  might 
be  exercised  through  any  agent,  or  upon  any 
subject,  according  to  need  and  use. 

The  light  of  human  experience  in  all  ages, 
more  especially  in  less  enlightened  ages  and 
places,  will  enable  us  to  appreciate  some  pecu¬ 
liar  statements  in  apostolic  history  on  this  sub¬ 
ject.  It  is  stated  that  when  these  miracles  of 
healing  had  excited  the  minds  of  the  people, 


THE  HOL  V  SPIRIT. 


169 


the  enthusiasm  awakened,  together  with  the  hope 
of  healing  for  themselves  or  their  friends,  led 
many  into  superstitious  practices,  such  as  often 
occur  in  similar  cases.  The  persons  of  the  apos¬ 
tles  were  looked  upon  as  the  sources  of  healing. 
Some  brought  the  sick  and  laid  them  where  the 
shadow  of  Peter  in  passing  might  fall  upon 
them.  Others  brought  scarfs  and  handkerchiefs 
to  the  diseased  that  had  touched  the  person  of 
Paul.  And  at  Lystra,  the  priests  of  Jupiter 
could  scarcely  be  restrained  from  offering  sacri¬ 
fices  to  Paul  and  Barnabas,  in  consequence  of 
the  miracle  of  healing  performed  in  their  city. 

That  many  cases  of  healing  occurred  in  such 
connection,  by  the  influence  which  it  is  known 
an  excited  mind  exerts  upon  the  body,  was 
doubtless  true ;  and  it  may  have  been,  as  in 
like  cases,  that  the  apostles  had  no  conscious 
influence  in  the  matter.  The  influence  of  the 
imagination  to  affect  the  body  physically  has  not 
yet  ceased  in  the  world ;  and  in  darker  ages 
the  effect  was  in  proportion  to  the  strength  of 
superstition  among  the  people.  Hence  the  scrip¬ 
ture  narrative  not  only  accords  with  the  super¬ 
natural,  but  with  natural  relations  in  that  age. 


170 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF 


§  54. — “  The  'prayer  of  faith  shall  save  the  sick , 
*  *  *  and  if  he  have  committed  sins  they  shall 
be  forgiven .” 

It  is  asked  why  the  efficacy  of  prayer  has 
ceased,  or  why  Paul  left  a  companion  at  Miletus 
sick,  if  there  were  gifts  of  healing  that  could 
be  exercised  at  pleasure  ?  There  is  no  satisfac¬ 
tory  answer  to  such  questions  unless  we  find 
the  moral  principle  which  governed  in  such  cases. 
All  sicknesses  originate  in  natural  causes ;  but 
in  some  cases  they  likewise  have  a  moral  con¬ 
nection,  coming  as  a  penalty  for  sin.  It  is  a 
Bible  principle,  that  those  who  have  faith  in 
God  suffer  in  this  life  if  they  sin,  whilst  the 
disobedient  are  reserved  for  judgment  until  the 
future  life.  Hence  sickness  and  other  adverse 
providences  often  come  as  discipline  in  the  case 
of  believers  who  have  committed  offences  against 
God  of  which  they  have  not  repented.  The 
sicknesses  removed  by  the  prayer  of  faith  be¬ 
longed  to  this  category. 

The  suffering  of  believers  is  made  available 
to  their  moral  good.  Both  their  own  personal 
affliction  and  the  suffering  of  Christ  are  means 
of  sanctification  to  those  who  have  faith.  Faith 


THE  HOLY  SPIRIT. 


171 


sees  the  hand  of  God  in  the  affliction,  and  com 
nects  it  with  themselves  in  a  moral  sense  ;  hence 
the  dispensation  makes  them  more  humble  — 
more  obedient  —  more  holy.  A  true  faith  always 
transmutes  physical  evil  to  moral  good.  Thus 
the  Christian  is  sanctified  by  affliction,  and  freed 
from  the  love  and  practice  of  sin,  which  would 
alienate  the  mind  from  God  and  produce  future 
evil.  As  it  is  said  in  Scripture,  1  Cor.  xi,  82, 
— 44  When  we  are  judged,  we  are  chastened  of 
the  Lord,  that  we  should  not  be  condemned 
with  the  world.”  But  the  unregenerated  are 
44  reserved  until  the  day  of  judgment  to  be  pun¬ 
ished.”  It  would  not  be  a  benefit  to  the 
earthly-minded  to  punish  them  here.  It  would 
be  adding  providential  evil  to  natural  evil  with¬ 
out  benefit  to  the  sufferer.  It  could  do  them 
no  spiritual  good,  because  it  is  faith  alone  that 
transmutes  present  evil  to  an  everlasting  benefit. 

The  application  of  the  principle  is  distinctly 
revealed  in  connection  with  the  church  of  Corinth. 
The  converts  there,  recently  redeemed  from 
heathenism,  had  fallen  into  abuses  of  the  Lord’s 
Supper.  They  had  turned  a  sacred  memorial 
into  a  bacchanal  feast.  Hence  many  were  under 
discipline,  by  debility  and  disease,  and  some  had 


172 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF 


died.  1  Cor.  xi,  80, — “  For  this  cause  many  are 
weak  and  sickly  among  you,  and  many  sleep.” 
They  were  under  the  discipline  of  affliction  be¬ 
cause  of  their  sin,  and  some  were  dead,  because, 
perhaps,  if  they  had  lived  they  would  have 
grown  worse ;  and  hence  it  was  benevolence 
that  called  them  from  a  life  which  they  were 
likely  to  abuse.  Just  as  some  churches  are  bene¬ 
fited  when  God  takes  their  ministers  to  heaven 
(if  indeed  they  go  there),  because  they  get  a 
better  man. 

Now  those  afflicted  persons  who  were  benefited 
by  prayer  and  medical  appliances  administered 
in  faith,  were  believers  —  Christians  who  were 
suffering  discipline  for  the  indulgence  of  some 
sin,  an  affliction  of  which  perhaps  these  sinful 
indulgences  were  the  natural  cause ;  as  in  the 
case  of  the  Corinthians,  whose  debility  and  suf¬ 
fering  had  no  doubt  its  origin  in  their  bibulous 
excesses.  Hence,  when  the  sin  was  repented  of 
—  as  the  suffering  came  as  a  consequence,  both 
naturally  and  morally  —  the  cause  and  its  con¬ 
sequences  would  be  removed  together. 

So  in  other  like  cases.  It  is  stated  in  the 
context  that  the  repentance  of  the  sufferer  was 
a  concomitant  in  the  removal  of  the  affliction. 


THE  HQL  Y  SPIRIT. 


173 


Then  the  prayer  of  faith  would  save  the  sick, 
and  all  would  glorify  God  for  His  goodness.  By 
the  repentance  of  the  subject,  the  aim  of  the 
discipline  would  be  gained ;  and  by  departing 
from  his  sin  the  natural  cause  of  the  disease 
would  be  removed ;  and  by  faith  the  Church 
would  see  the  goodness  of  God  in  the  recovery 
of  the  sick.  Hence  it  is  added  in  the  passage, 
44  If  he  has  committed  sin  it  shall  be  forgiven 
him.’*  The  end  of  the  discipline  is  attained, 
the  moral  effect  aimed  at  is  accomplished,  and 
the  sick  man  recovers  according  to  both  the 
natural  and  moral  economy  of  the  Divine  govern¬ 
ment. 

Whether  such  interposition  by  providential 
agency  be  necessary  in  the  present  state  of  the 
Church,  others  may  judge.  It  would  at  least  be 
well  ^if  intelligent  physicians,  who  have  learned 
enough  to  know  that  medical  appliances  are 
seldom  of  much  value,  had  more  faith  in  the 
power  of  the  Great  Physician,  who,  in  accord¬ 
ance  with  preceding  views,  removed  bodily  mala¬ 
dies  in  order  that  men  might  believe  that  He 
had  power  to  remove  the  malady  of  the  soul. 
(See  Matt,  ix,  6.) 


174 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF 


§  55. —  Was  the  Spiritual  endowment  imparted  by 
laying  on  of  hands  to  be  transient  or  perma¬ 
nent  in  the  churches  ? 

Laying  on  of  hands  seems  to  have  been  under¬ 
stood  in  the  primitive  churches  as  an  imparta- 
tion  of  spiritual  influence  from  the  minds  of 
those  in  sympathy  with  Christ,  to  those  who 
received  the  benediction.  In  the  sixth  chapter 
of  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews  it  is  given  as  one 
of  the  circle  of  foundation  doctrines  in  the 
Christian  system.  The  translators,  by  imperfect 
punctuation,  have  somewhat  blinded  its  import. 
The  passage,  expounded  according  to  the  analogy 
of  faith,  is  as  follows :  “  Advancing  from  the 
first  principles  of  the  gospel  of  Christ,  which 
we  accepted  at  our  initiation,  let  us  go  onward 
to  perfection,  not  laying  over  again  the  founda¬ 
tion  principles,  which  are :  (1)  Repentance ,  or 
turning  from  dead  works  —  i.  e .,  works  without 
love  —  to  works  produced  by  faith  in  Christ. 

(2)  Faith  towards  God  as  manifest  in  the  flesh. 

(3)  Baptisms ,  or  purification  by  the  Holy  Ghost, 
and  its  symbol  water  baptism.  (4)  The  laying 
on  of  hands  ;  to  communicate  spiritual  influence 
to  qualify  for  official  labor  in  the  Church  of 


THE  HOL  Y  SPIRIT. 


175 


God.  (5)  The  resurrection  of  the  dead.  (6) 
Eternal  judgment. 

Of  these  six  foundation  tenets  the  laying  on 
of  hands  is  the  fourth.  It  was  certainly  one  of 
the  recognized  ordinances  of  the  Gospel  accord¬ 
ing  to  the  conception  of  those  who  founded  the 
Christian  institutions.  That  with  them  it  implied 
the  communication  of  the  Holy  Spirit  as  that  Spirit 
energized  in  the  souls  of  the  administrators ,  there 
is  no  room  for  doubt.  It  becomes,  therefore,  an 
inquiry  of  deep  importance  whether  the  accom¬ 
panying  grace  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  imparted  by 
the  laying  on  of  hands,  was  one  of  those  gifts 
which  was  to  cease  with  the  founders  of  the 
New  Testament  Dispensation,  or  whether  it  was 
to  continue  as  an  efflux  of  Spiritual  influence, 
imparted  from  gracious  minds  to  others  approved 
of  God  as  gospel  ministers  ? 

There  are  well  informed  observers  who  think 
that  after  all  the  apocryphal  or  doubtful  views 
of  mesmerism  are  rejected,  there  is  still  sufficient 
evidence  to  believe  that  at  the  present  time,  as 
in  all  past  times,  the  logos  of  one  mind  may,  in 
certain  pathological  conditions,  be  transferred  to 
another.  Dr.  Carpenter,  the  best  living  physiol¬ 
ogist,  assents  to  this  view.  To  such  as  sup- 


176 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF 


pose  miracles  are  not  in  contravention  of  natu¬ 
ral  law,  sucli  testimony  may  aid  conviction.  But 
apart  from  the  deductions  of  physiology  and 
psychology,  there  are  scriptural  and  rational  con¬ 
siderations  in  regard  to  this  subject  to  which 
prayerful  Christians  ought  to  take  heed.  These 
we  think  favor  the  conclusion  that  the  benedic¬ 
tion  imparted  by  the  laying  on  of  hands,  was 
an  efflux  of  the  indwelling  Spirit,  rather  than  an 
exercise  of  miraculous  power. 

(a)  It  is  spoken  of  as  one  of  the  fundamen¬ 
tal  principles  of  Christianity.  It  is  agreed  that 
the  other  five  were  to  continue  in  the  church  to 
the  end  of  time  —  the  same  in  import  and  effi¬ 
cacy  as  at  the  beginning.  Can  any  good  reason 

be  adduced  for  making  the  laying  on  of  hands 

* 

an  exception  ? 

(5)  The  same  hortatory  instructions  are  appli¬ 
cable  in  this  case  as  in  other  cases  of  the  in¬ 
dwelling  Spirit  —  the  difference  being  only  in  the 
degree  and  the  characteristics  of  the  power  im¬ 
parted.  Hence  the  exhortation  of  Paul  to  Tim¬ 
othy  :  “  Neglect  not  the  gift  that  is  in  thee, 
which  was  given  thee  by  prophecy  and  by  the 
laying  on  of  ‘  hands  ’  of  the  Presbytery.”  In 
this  case  the  apostle  affirms  that  the  elders  of 


THE  HOLY  SPIRIT. 


177 


the  church  imparted  the  gift,  and  the  young 

preacher  is  called  upon  to  exercise  his  agency 
in  cooperation  with  the  inward  grace. 

(<?)  The  Spirit  was  conferred  in  connection 
with  belief  of  the  truth.  Truth  is  the  instru¬ 

mentality  by  which  the  indwelling  Spirit  oper¬ 
ates  to  glorify  God  and  produce  spiritual  good 
in  men.  Christ  is  the  Truth,  and  His  Spirit  is 
the  “  Spirit  of  Truth.”  Men  are  born  of  the 
Truth,  and  sanctified  by  the  Truth ;  hence  when 
the  disciples  of  John  were  instructed  in  the 
fundamental  elements  of  Christian  truth  —  and 
not  till  then  —  they  received  the  Spirit  by  the 
laying  on  of  the  apostle’s  hands. 

There  are  certainly  reasons  for  the  inquiry 

whether  the  churches  of  our  day,  conceive  of 

the  indwelling  Spirit,  in  believers,  and  its  com¬ 
munications  to  fit  men  for  particular  labors,  as 
did  the  early  disciples.  Everything  of  Divine 
excellence  can  be  misdirected  or  perverted,  hence 
the^e  may  be  danger  of  a  certain  kind  in  urg¬ 
ing  the  evidence  on  this  subject.  Formalists  and 
Simonists,  and  enthusiasts,  may  profess  to  com¬ 
municate  Spiritual  grace,  while  the  only  spirit 
that  is  in  them  is  earthly  and  selfish.  But 

ought  not  men  of  prayer  and  inward  grace  to 

12 


178 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF 


\ 


hope  that  the  administration  of  this  ordinance 
to  persons  who  seek  to  glorify  Christ  in  their 
life  and  ministry,  will  not  be  an  empty  form, 
but  will  be  accompanied  by  an  “  unction  from 
the  Holy  One 79  — a  spiritual  energy  indwelling 

9 

and  yet  diffusive  that  will  be  in  some  wise  sub¬ 
ject  to  the  agency  of  the  recipient  —  and  will 
enable  him  to  “  preach  the  gospel  with  the  Holy 
Ghost  sent  down  from  heaven?” 


§  56. —  Recondite  laws  of  human  nature  connect 
themselves  with  this  subject. 

Before  our  closing  illustrations,  a  thought  or 
two  in  regard  to  some  profound  natural  rela¬ 
tions  of  the  body  and  spirit  may  give  complete¬ 
ness  to  this  monograph  of  the  operation  of  the  * 
Spirit  of  God. 

There  is  in  nature  what  may  be  called,  for 
want  of  a  better  definition  —  a  sympathetic  virtus 
—  meaning  thereby  a  quality  of  human  nature 
which,  when  the  soul  is  excited,  causes  it  to 
impart  of  the  spirit  of  its  exercises  to  other 
minds.  It  may  arise  from,  and  be  a  proof  of 
the  solidarity  of  the  human  family,  that  an 
excited  cord  in  the  mind  of  one  vibrates  in 


THE  HOL  Y  SPIRIT. 


179 


others.  If  this  is  a  characteristic  of  the  nature 
of  mankind,  it  is  open  to  both  evil  and  good 
influences,  and  as  God  imparts  good  according 
to  the  laws  of  the  nature  He  has  given  to  man, 
He  would  work  through  these  laws  in  commu¬ 
nicating  His  grace  from  those  nearest  Christ  to 
the  more  remote.  We  say  through  those  nearest 
Christ,  because  the  dispensations  of  the  Holy 
Spirit  come  to  us,  as  before  stated,  through  the 
humanity  of  Jesus.  If  therefore  this  sympathetic 
virtus  exists  in  human  nature  it  existed  in  Christ, 
and  hence  the  operations  of  His  spirit  would 
partake  of  its  qualities.* 

This  characteristic  of  our  nature  will,  of  course, 
manifest  itself  in  an  awakened  state  of  the  reli¬ 
gious  sensibility  —  whether  the  revival  of  inter¬ 
est  partake  mostly  of  human  or  of  Divine  im¬ 
pulse.  A  pure  revival  of  religion,  which  always 
produces  “repentance”  and  restores  “first  love,” 
will  necessarily  partake  of  the  marks  of  the 
Divine  indwelling  Spirit,  as  deduced  in  preced¬ 
ing  sections :  Not  undue  excitement,  but  peace ; 
Duty,  which  is  not  labor,  but  rest;  Rigliteous- 

*  Some  man  in  the  future,  when  this  subject  is  better  under¬ 
stood,  will  show  that  this  quality  of  human  nature  is  a  reason 
why  the  Divine  mercy  should  be  manifested  through  the  flesh. 


I 


180  THE  DOCTRINE  OF 

ness,  which  redresses  wrong  and  produces  Chris¬ 
tian  integrity ;  Faith,  which  works  by  love  and 
casts  out  of  the  mind  personal  enmities  and 
alienations. 

Men  who  have  spiritual  life  impart  of  their 
human  characteristics  with  the  impartations  of 
the  Spirit  diffused  by  them.  We  knew  a  church 
once  that  made  decided  progress  in  righteousness 
and  love  during  a  revival  of  religion.  There  was 
one  man  among  the  people  who  possessed  the  pres¬ 
ence  of  Christ  in  his  heart,  and  who  loved  and 
obeyed  as  the  rule  of  his  life.  At  home  and 
abroad,  in  labor  or  in  social  life,  he  did  always 
what  he  thought  would  please  the  Redeemer.  Dur¬ 
ing  the  progress  of  the  interest  in  the  church  he 
was  earnest  but  peaceful.  He  had  unction  and 
humility.  As  the  interest  advanced  it  took  on 
something  of  the  aspect  of  this  faithful  man’s 
exercises.  It  was  peaceful,  purifying,  quicken¬ 
ing.  It  was  his  custom  to  give  all  his  means, 
except  a  comfortable  support  for  his  family,  to 
the  cause  of  Christ. 

.  This  religious  interest  tended  strongly  in  this 
direction.  It  produced  a  conviction  of  duty 
that  doubled  the  benevolent  offerings  of  the 
members  of  that  church  from  that  day  forward, 


THE  HOL  Y  SPIRIT. 


181 


and  gave  a  spirit  of  honesty  and  charity  to 
professing  Christians  where  before  these  qualities 
were  deficient.  He  was  an  intelligent  man ;  he 
seemed  naturally  to  oppose  whatever  injured 
others.  He  was  intimate  with  pious  people  and 
with  all  who  labored  to  do  good  ;  but  rather  re¬ 
cluse,  although  not  separate  from  the  more  worldly 
social  class.  The  pastor  of  the  church  had  ev¬ 
idence  to  believe  that  the  spiritual  graces  of 
this  disciple  of  the  Lord  was  a  source  of  power 
that  reached  his  own  mind  and  that  of  others ; 
and  the  influence  of  which  will  never  cease. 


NOTES 

ILLUSTRATING  SOME  PHASES  OF  SPIRITUAL  COMMUNICATION. 

I. 

The  following  statement  is  made  by  Rev.  R.  H.  Will,  of 
Illinois,  a  Methodist  minister,  in  whose  integrity  all  may  con¬ 
fide.  If  such  cases  were  collected  by  those  who  have  personal 
knowledge  of  their  occurrence,  it  would  be  difficult  to  assign 
them  to  the  category  of  “  extraordinary  coincidences.” 

“In  a  family  whose  name  was  Taylor,  residing  in  England, 
the  mother  was  known  as  a  woman  of  unusual  piety.  She  had 
a  large  family  of  children.  It  was  her  daily  habit  to  take  these 
children  into  her  room  and  read  a  portion  of  Scripture  and 
pray  for  each  of  them  severally.  They  were  all,  as  she  hoped, 


182 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF 


converted  at  an  early  age,  except  the  youngest  one,  whose  name 
is  George.  This  one  resisted  her  entreaties,  and  seemed  to  pay 
no  heed  to  her  supplication.  From  youth  to  manhood  he  grew 
more  obstinate  and  reckless,  and  terminated  his  connection  with 
his  home  by  enlisting,  as  a  common  soldier,  in  the  English 
army.  The  mother  was  grieved,  but  did  not  despair.  The 
company  into  which  her  son  had  enlisted  was  ordered  to  Quebec, 
in  Canada ;  but  she  continued,  at  the  same  hour  each  day,  to 
pray  specially  for  him,  as  she  had  for  her  other  children.  His 
course,  however,  in  Canada,  where  I  then  resided,  as  far  as  the 
restraints  of  a  soldier’s  life  would  permit,  was  unsteady,  and 
disorderly,  and  profane. 

“  On  a  certain  Sabbath  day,  the  mother  knew  not  why,  she 
was  strongly  impressed  to  pray  for  her  absent  son,  and  asked 
her  friends  in  the  church  to  unite  with  her  in  special  prayer 
for  the  salvation  of  her  youngest  son,  George,  then  a  common 
soldier  in  Quebec,  of  whose  case  her  friends  were  acquainted. 
They  met  and  prayed  unitedly,  and  specially  that  the  young 
man  might  be  ‘  snatched  as  a  brand  from  the  burning.’ 

“ At  the  same  hour ,  as  nearly  as  could  be  ascertained,  the 
young  man  was  in  a  drinking  saloon,  with  companions  as  vio¬ 
lent  and  wicked  as  himself.  His  statement  is,  that  an  undefined 
sense  of  fear  and  sin  came  to  him,  so  that  he  felt  he  nuust 
leave  the  place,  which  he  did,  intending  to  go  to  his  barracks. 
On  his  way  home,  seeing  a  church  door  open  and  hearing 
singing,  he  entered  the  place,  and  in  the  agony  of  his  mind 
cried  for  mercy  to  God.  That  night  he  became  a  new  man. 
His  companions  ridiculed  and  persecuted  him  for  weeks.  He 
labored  for  their  salvation  individually,  and  when  I  last  knew 
the  company  all  but  about  twenty  professed  discipleship  to 
Christ.  R.  H.  Will.” 


THE  HOL  Y  SPIRIT. 


188 


II. 

We  know  a  man  who  has  passed  through  the  common  ex¬ 
periences  of  a  busy  and  successful  life,  whose  spiritual  experi¬ 
ences  have  been,  to  his  own  mind,  an  illustration  and  confir¬ 
mation  of  some  of  the  modes  of  Divine  communication  spoken 
of  in  the  preceding  pages.  He  was  reared  in  a  family  who 
were  reverent  towards  God,  and  strict  in  the  observance  of  the 
Sabbath,  and  in  conscientious  regard  of  the  duties  due  to  their 
fellow-men,  albeit,  like  others  in  the  old  Scotch  churches,  they 
made  no  opposition  to  innocent  social  recreations.  At  an  early 
age,  this  man  had  ideas  of  God  and  religion ;  although  when 
a  young  man  he  was  sceptical — not  concerning  God,  but  con¬ 
cerning  revelation  —  for  a  number  of  years.  Yet  during  this 
period,  although  the  social  gayeties  of  the  world  were  freely  ac¬ 
cepted,  there  was  an  intuitive  regard  for  the  Sabbath,  and  an 
indisposition  to  a  profane  or  vicious  course  of  life. 

Among  the  recollections  of  this  man,  there  is  a  distinct  re¬ 
membrance  of  two  unusual  spiritual  experiences  before  the  age 
of  manhood  —  the  first  when  almost  a  child,  the  second  after 
doubt  had  unwillingly  come  to  his  mind.  Both  these  experi¬ 
ences  began  on  the  Sabbath.  The  first,  when  about  thirteen 
years  of  age,  was  an  experience  of  delightful  peace  of  mind. 
There  was  a  sense  of  God  and  duty  in  it,  although  this  was 
not  measured  by  any  form  of  faith.  The  lad  recognized  it  as 
“  religion,”  and  spoke  of  it  as  such  to  his  child  companions ; 
and  they  spoke  to  each  other  of  him  as  having  “  become  re¬ 
ligious.”  How  long  this  complacency  in  God  lasted  is  not 
remembered ;  but  it  was  a  period  of  days,  if  not  weeks. 

The  second  experience  was  of  a  different  character.  He  was 
conscious  of  God  but  not  of  peace.  He  was  sceptical  in  regard 
to  the  Scriptures,  but  he  rose  from  his  bed  in  the  night  and 


184 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF 


prayed  earnestly  that,  if  his  doubts  were  wrong,  he  might  be 
led  to  the  truth.  He  felt  sinful  and  unrestful,  not  in  view  of 
the  future,  but  from  a  sense  of  God’s  presence.  After  a  season 
this  unusual  consciousness  likewise  passed  away,  and  no  renewal 
of  either  state  occurred  again  until  the  time  when  he  was,  as  he 
hoped,  “  renewed  in  the  spirit  of  his  mind.”  From  the  time  of 
the  second  experience  to  the  income  of  the  new  life  there  were 
years  of  study  and  work,  with  no  conscious  change  of  convic¬ 
tion  or  character  at  the  time  ;  but  afterwards  he  saw  plainly 
that  the  sense  of  God  and  duty  became  less  influential  as  years 
had  passed  by. 

After  some  years  of  business  life  he  was  providentially  thrown 
into  associations  where  the  influences  of  prayer  and  piety  were 
prevalent.  This  was,  for  him,  a  new  phase  of  society.  For  a 
season  he  gave  no  heed,  and  felt  no  impression ;  but  there 
came  to  him  afterwards  a  deep  consciousness  of  sin  —  not  sin  in 
connection  with  past  life  so  much  as  sin  in  the  character  of 
his  own  spontaneous  exercises  ;  and  because  he  felt  unwilling  to 
be  what  he  knew  he  should  be.  He  saw  in  his  heart  ingrati¬ 
tude  to  God  in  regard  to  past  events,  which  he  had  not  so 
considered  before,  He  saw  selfishness  and  evil  imaginations  as 
he  had  not  seen  them  before.  After  months^  of  unrest  —  not  in 
view  of  future  punishment,  of  which  he  never  had  a  fearful 
apprehension,  but  in  view  of  the  evil  of  his  own  selfish  exer¬ 
cises,  he  passed  into  a  state  of  conscious  peace.  Immediately 
connected  with  this  transition  was  a  sense  of  the  presence  of 
God  in  nature  and  in  providence.  This  sense  of  the  Divine 
produced  an  elevated  and  delightsome  state  of  mind.  Some¬ 
thing  in  the  soul  reluctated  against  any  unrighteous  or  selfish 
or  lustful  thought.  Theological  doctrines  were  not  important  — 
even  the  doctrine  of  God  in  Christ  was  not  so  distinct  as  it 


THE  HOL  Y  SPIRIT 


185 


afterwards  became.  The  New  Testament  had  a  new  meaning, 
and  the  preacher  a  new  life.  Although  he  loved  to  live,  at 
this  time  he  was  consciously  not  afraid  to  die ;  and  he  still 
remembers  expressions  of  surprise  from  friends  when  he  stated 
that  he  did  not  fear  death.  And  yet  he  had  no  distinct  ap¬ 
prehension  of  what  the  future  life  is,  except  that  those  who 
die  in  the  Lord  have  His  presence  and  favor.  Thus  for  many 
months  there  was  pleasing  peace  —  less  in  the  morning  than  as 
the  day  advanced.  He  remembers  once  feeling,  like  Paul,  that 
he  could  suffer  privation,  if  thereby  others  might  be  brought 
truly  to  love  and  obey  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ ;  and  although  he 
had  at  the  time  in  his  mind  no  analytical  view  of  God  mani¬ 
fest  in  the  flesh,  yet,  when  he  first  heard  Christ  preached  in 
this  hallowed  state  of  mind,  he  leaned  his  head  forward  on 
the  pew,  and  tears  flowed  freely,  no  one  knowing  of  his  emotion 
but  himself.  The  state  of  mind  was  the  same  delightsome  con¬ 
sciousness  as  that  of  his  early  boyhood. 

After  many  months  of  this  pleasant  inward  life,  the  cares  of 
this  world  gradually  intervened,  and  the  common  Christian  ex¬ 
perience  superseded  the  life  on  the  mount.  There  was  still  a 
sense  of  God  in  Providence  and  in  Christ ;  but  sins  of  omis¬ 
sion  and  selfish  motive  were  not  so  carefully  avoided  as  before. 
He  still  lived,  in  a  general  sense,  to  please  Christ,  but  con¬ 
science  was  not  so  complacent  as  formerly,  and  peace  and  love 
were  not  so  prevalent  as  in  past  days. 

At  times,  during  this  man’s  later  years,  a  recurrence  for 
limited  seasons  of  the  first  peaceful  trust  was  experienced. 
But  it  was  not  the  habitual  state  of  mind.  Perhaps  something 
in  nature  or  providence  prevents  this  in  some  cases.  But  what 
might  have  been,  if  the  doctrine  of  the  indwelling  Spirit  had 
been  taught  as  the  apostles  taught  it,  can  not  now  be  known. 

24* 


186 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF 


Suffice  it  to  say,  that  the  Scripture  doctrine,  —  “  Know  ye  not 
that  the  Holy  Ghost  dwells  in  you,  except  ye  he  reprobates,” 
was  not  expounded,  nor  apparently  experienced,  as  it  was  in 
the  earliest  periods  of  the  Christian  Church ;  nor  as  "William 
Penn,  Jeremy  Taylor,  John  Wesley,  Jonathan  Edwards,  and 
other  worthies  expounded  and  experienced  it. 

Subsequent  passages  in  this  gentleman’s  spiritual  history 
will  perhaps  throw  light  upon  another  phase  of  the  sub¬ 
ject.  Traveling  once  with  a  friend  who  constantly  possessed 
the  presence  of  the  Spirit  in  his  soul,  they  tarried  midway  in 
their  journey  at  a  farm  house,  and  occupied  the  same  bed  dur¬ 
ing  the  night.  When  he  arose  the  next  morning,  his  soul  was 
possessed  of  the  same  delightful  peace  which  had  been  experi¬ 
enced  in  former  years.  Pie  rose  before  his  companion,  and 
went  out  into  the  orchard,  when  nature  again  seemed  to  speak 
of  God,  and  his  mind  was  peaceful  and  praiseful,  as  in  other 
days. 

On  a  subsequent  occasion,  during  a  special  meeting  of  Chris¬ 
tians  in  a  western  city,  he  retired  to  rest  with  a  graduate 
from  Oberlin,  where  the  presence  of  the  Holy  Spirit  has  been 
experienced  as  no  where  else  in  the  nation.  This  man’s  heart 
was  full  of  zeal  for  the  Lord.  The  next  morning,  after  a  sound 

l 

sleep,  the  same  spiritual  consciousness  manifest  in  the  Oberlin 
student  inspired  in  a  measure,  the  mind  of  the  gentleman  who 
shared  his  bed  ;  and  both  spoke  with  earnestness  and  devotion 
in  the  assemblage  they  had  convener!  to  attend. 

Now,  we  shall  make  no  effort  to  explain  or  apply  these  facts. 
The  person  spoken  of  had,  so  far  as  he  was  conscious,  no 
agency  in  producing  the  states  of  mind  described.  Hence  the 
influence  of  the  imagination  was  not  a  factor  in  the  case. 
His  companions  may  have  prayed  for  him  on  those  nights.  This 


THE  HOL  Y  SPIRIT. 


187 


may  be,  in  part,  or  wholly,  the  exposition  of  the  case  ;  but  he  had 
no  anticipation  of  these  experiences  when  they  came,  nor  as 
they  came.  They  were  generally  alike,  and  like  former  spir¬ 
itual  experiences,  varied  only  by  prevailing  interest  in  some 
subjects  of  religious  import  rather  than  others. 

It  is  not  to  be  inferred  from  the  foregoing  that  when  per¬ 
sons  in  common  cases  are  brought  into  contact  with  the  spir¬ 
itually  minded,  that  thereby  spiritual  efficacy  is  always  imparted. 
Experience  teaches  otherwise.  Some  natures  are  more  impressi¬ 
ble  than  others  ;  and  the  spiritual  and  the  natural  cooperate 
in  the  economy  of  the  gospel.  But  if  one  who  had  knowledge 
of  the  truth,  and  desired  to  obey  Christ,  lacked  spiritual  impulse 
and  unction,  and  if  it  be  the  Divine  method  that  the  influence 
of  the  Holy  Spirit  is  radiated  from  those  who  pray  to  those 
who  need,  and  in  specific  cases  to  qualify  them  for  specific 
labor,  then  the  bearing  of  such  experiences  as  the  foregoing,  in 
connection  with  prayer,  should  be  studied  and  understood. 


APPENDIX. 


THE  HOL  Y  SPIRIT. 


191 


A. 


HARMONY  BETWEEN  GENESIS  AND  GEOLOGY. 

If  the  visional  theory  of  reconciling  the  Mosaic 
and  Geological  Cosmogonies  is  to  be  accepted, 
some  modifications  in  the  views  of  harmonists, 
as  usually  propounded,  ought  to  be  admitted.  We 
will  propose  a  modification  which  we  think  is 
more  in  accordance  with  the  text,  and  with  the 
requirements  of  geological  facts,  than  the  usual 
exposition. 

The  elements  of  a  vision  must  be  composed  of 
the  material  of  preceding  thought  —  of  ideas  pre¬ 
viously  in  the  mind.  Hence  no  idea  that  had 
not  been  conceived  of  in  a  waking  state  by  the 
seer,  could  enter  into  the  composition  of  his 
vision. 

Now,  the  multitudinous  life  in  the  primeval 
sea  is  implied  in  the  statement  that  the  life- 
giving  Spirit  “brooded  over  the  waters.”  It  is 
likewise  implied  in  the  statement  that  “  there 
was  light”  before  the  first  day.  This  life  in  the 


192 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF 


waters,  however  —  in  twilight,  or  mingled  light 

and  dark  —  had  no  connection  with  the  future 

man.  And  as  it  was  not  an  object  of  vision, 

no  idea  of  it  could  exist  in  a  human  mind,  and 

« 

hence  it  would  form  no  part  of  the  panorama 
which  passed  before  the  mind  of  the  seer.  The 
whole  paleozoic  life  -  period,  therefore,  ought  to 
be  excluded  from  the  vision,  and  from  the  first 
day-period  of  the  Creation. 

Then,  in  the  first  chapter  of  Genesis,  the  first 
day  begins,  not  at  the  beginning  of  the  second 
verse,  but  in  the  middle  of  the  fourth.  This  divi¬ 
sion,  as  we  shall  see,  both  the  phraseology  and 
the  sense  of  the  text  require.  Then  the  brood¬ 
ing  of  the  life-begetting  Spirit  and  the  creation 
of  light,  in  the  paleozoic  age,  will  be  excluded 
from  the  day  -  periods,  and  thrown  back  to  a 
point  indefinitely  anterior  to  the  first  day.  Life 
in  the  vision  will  then  properly  begin  with  the 
first  visible  life,  that  is,  with  the  vegetation  which 
formed  the  prominent  aspect  of  the  carboniferous 
series,  the  first  product  of  creation  that  is  eco¬ 
nomically  connected  with  man. 

Upon  a  reconsideration  of  the  subject,  I  think 
the  learned  will  accept  this  construction.  There 
are  plain  reasons  for  beginning  the  first  day- 


THE  HOL  Y  SPIRIT. 


193 


period  at  the  middle  of  the  fourth  verse :  among 
others  the  following: 

1.  The  preceding  words,  “  God  saw  the  light 
that  it  was  good,”  indicate  in  the  usual  way  the 
end  of  a  period ;  a  period  signalized  by  the  crea¬ 
tion  of  light,  before  the  division  of  light  and  dark¬ 
ness  —  a  division  by  which  the  first  day  was  pro¬ 
duced ,  and  before  which  day  did  not  exist. 

2.  The  day  -  periods  are  composed  of  evening 
and  morning,  or  a  division  of  light  and  darkness, 
which,  however,  did  not  exist  until  after  the 
process  which  begins  at  the  middle  of  the  fourth 
verse.  And  when  the  division  had  been  made  — 
not  before — the  light  is  called  u  day.”  To  extend 
the  first  day-period,  therefore,  further  back  than 
the  middle  of  the  fourth  verse,  would  be  to  give 
it  a  place  before  the  act  of  God,  which  consti¬ 
tuted  it,  had  been  put  forth. 

3.  By  this  arrangement,  which  a  correct  appre¬ 
hension  of  the  visional  theory  and  of  the  text 
both  require,  a  better  harmony  is  produced  than 
a  reasoning  Christian  or  an  unreasonable  skeptic 
would  expect.  All  life,  animal  and  vegetable, 
indicated  by  the  brooding  of  the  Spirit,  and  the 
existence  of  light  in  the  paleozoic  age,  is  placed 

anterior  to  the  first  day  —  where  the  date  of 

13 


194 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF 


Moses  begins.  This  dim  past  furnishes  a  field 
without  well  defined  limits,  where  the  transcend¬ 
ental  reason  may  revel  amid  the  first  obscure 
indication  that  there  is  a  God.  And  the  develop¬ 
ment  of  creative  energy  through  the  subsequent 
revealed  periods  of  the  earth’s  progress  comes 
into  such  harmony  with  the  deductions  of  science 
as  will  be  more  satisfactory — perhaps  a  little  sur¬ 
prising  —  to  the  merely  scientific  enquirer.  A 
harmony  which  can  be  accounted  for  in  no  way  if 
the  divine  guidance  in  the  vision  of  Moses  is 
rejected,  except  by  supposing  that  accurate  geo¬ 
logical  knowledge  not  only  existed  in  Egypt,  but 
that  it  was  developed  by  the  same  induction 
of  facts  which  forms  the  basis  of  the  science 
in  our  own  time 


THE  HOL  Y  SPIRIT. 


195 


B. 


(Chap.  II,  p.  26.) 


ANTHEOPOPATISM. 

Neander  (Dr.  Aug.)  assumes  this  conclusion, 
although  the  process  by  which  he  reaches  it  is 
not  given.  He  says  (Church  Hist.  chap,  i.), — 
“  Philo  was  perfectly  right  in  combating  the 
sensuous  anthropopathism  of  certain  Jewish  Rab¬ 
bis.  But  here,  as  it  often  happens,  in  avoiding 
one  error  he  fell  into  another  of  an  opposite 
character,  by  mistaking  and  overlooking  the  ob¬ 
jective  and  real  truths  which  were  at  the  ground¬ 
work  of  that  anthropopathical  form  in  which  they 
were  delivered  —  a  form  necessary  not  only  to 
the  multitude  in  early  ages,  but  to  man ,  as  man , 
WHO  CAN  ONLY  CONTEMPLATE  THE  DIVINE,  UNDER 
THE  ANALOGY,  DEFINED  INDEED  AND  ENNOBLED, 
BUT  STILL  THE  ANALOGY  OF  THE  HUMAN.” 

In  accordance  with  the  necessities  of  our  lim¬ 
ited  human  mind  was  the  manifestation  of  God 


196 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF 


in  the  flesh.  In  the  future,  when  philosophy 
shall  have  escaped  from  the  shadows  in  which 
she  has  been  enveloped  by  the  transcendental- 


ists,  or  dogmatic  intuitionists  (we  do  not  speak 


invidiously)  there  will  come  a  man  who  will 
demonstrate  better  than  we  have  done,  that  by 


a  manifestation  in  humanity  alone  can  the  divine 


be  revealed  to  the  human.  Anthropology,  as  the 
only  method  of  divine  manifestation,  has  its  laws, 
which  are  all  fulfilled  by  the  incarnation  of  the 
Logo$. 

So  Cousin,  in  Lecture  Sixteen,  on  the  True, 
Beautiful,  and  Good,  says,  /“  God  is  the  type  of 
the  moral  personality  that  we  carry  in  us.  Man 
is  a  moral  personality ;  that  is  to  say,  he  is 


with  reason  and  liberty.  He  is  capable 


of  virtue,  and  virtue  has,  in  him,  two  principal 
forms,  regard  for  others  and  love  for  others  — 


justice 


“  Can  there  be  among  the  attributes  possessed 
by  the  creature  something  essential  not  possessed 
by  the  Creator  ?  Whence  does  the  effect  draw 
its  reality  and  its  being,  except  from  its  cause  ? 
What  it  possesses  it  borrows  and  receives.  The 
cause,  at  least,  contains  all  that  is  essential  in 
the  effect.  What  particularly  belongs  to  the 


THE  HOL  V  SPIRIT. 


19T 


effect  is  inferiority  —  a  lack  —  an  imperfection. 
From  the  fact  alone  that  it  is  dependent  and 
derived,  it  bears  in  itself  the  signs  and  condi¬ 
tions  of  dependence.  If,  then,  we  can  not  legit¬ 
imately  conclude  from  the  imperfection  of  the 
effect,  that  of  the  cause,  we  can  and  must  con¬ 
clude  from  the  excellence  of  the  effect  in  the 
perfection  of  the  cause,  otherwise  there  would 
be  something  prominent  in  the  effect,  which 
would  be  without  cause. 

“  Such  is  the  principle  of  our  theodicea.  It 
is  neither  new  nor  subtle  ;  but  it  has  not  yet 
been  thoroughly  disengaged  and  elucidated,  and 
it  is,  to  our  eyes,  firm  against  every  test.  It 
is  by  the  aid  of  this  principle  that  we  can ,  up  to 
a  certain  point ,  penetrate  into  the  true  nature  of 
God ” 


198 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF 


c. 


(Chap.  III.,  p.  42.) 


THE  SCIENTIFIC  FORMULAE  OF  THE  BIRTH  OF 

CHRIST. 

Skeptical  minds  have  imagined  more  difficul¬ 
ties  than  really  exist  in  connection  with  the 
manner  of  Christ’s  birth.  Difficulties  may  easily 
be  alleged,  and  yet  if  a  Christ  were  born  at 
all,  whose  nature  was  in  advance  of  the  present 
human  species  (as  that  of  a  Christ  must  neces¬ 
sarily  be),  the  analogies  of  science  would  deter- 
mine  that  his  conception  and  birth  would  be  in 
accordance  with  the  statement  of  the  Scriptures. 

Almost  all  naturalists  who  have  studied  the 
fossil  species  as  they  succeed  each  other  in  the 
geological  history  of  our  globe,  have  supposed 
that  the  introduction  of  each  new  species  was  an 
immediate  act  of  creation.  Whether  the  new 
form  with  its  faculties  were  produced  by  gesta¬ 
tion  in  a  lower  species,  or  in  some  other  way, 


THE  HOL  Y  SPIRIT. 


199 


it  is  generally  agreed  that  the  life -power  of  the 
new  form  was  introduced  by  the  immediate 
agency  of  the  Creator.  So  it  is  in  regard  to  the 
two  moral  species,  the  Adamic  and  the  Christian, 
(1  Cor.  xv,  45-48),  The  first  man  Adam  was 
made  a  living  soul ;  the  last  Adam  a  life  -  giv¬ 
ing  Spirit.  Howbeit  [in  the  process  of  devel¬ 
opment]  “  that  was  not  first  which  is  spiritual, 
but  that  which  is  natural ;  and  afterwards  that 
which  is  spiritual.  The  first  man  is  of  the 
earth,  earthy :  the  second  man  is  the  Lord  from 
heaven.  As  is  the  earthy,  such  are  they  also 
that  are  earthy :  and  as  is  the  heavenly,  such 
are  they  also  that  are  heavenly.”  That  is,  Adam 
is  the  head  of  an  inferior  species.,  whose  supreme 
motive  and  supreme  end  lie  in  the  earth. 
Christ,  the  second  Adam,  is  the  head  of  a 
superior  species,  whose  motives  and  end  are 
spiritual,  above  the  earth.  Hence  “  that  which 
is  born  of  the  flesh  is  flesh,  that  which  is  born 
of  the  Spirit  is  spirit.”  Christ,  as  the  Son  of 
Man,  was  a  new  species  of  the  human  genus, 
and  the  type  and  head  of  His  species.  The 
germ  of  the  new  creature  is  imparted  by  regen¬ 
eration,  and  developed  out  of  the  old  Adamic 
nature ;  and  in  the  resurrection,  the  corporeity 


200 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF 


of  those  in  whom  is  the  image  of  Christ  will 
be  developed  into  “the  likeness  of  Christ’s  glo¬ 
rified  body.”  “We  shall  awake  in  his  likeness.” 
Hence  the  birth  of  Christ,  as  the  first  of  a 
superior  species  of  the  genus  homo ;  and  the 
promises,  to  those  who  have  spiritually  “  put  on 
the  new  man  in  Christ  Jesus,”  are  in  accord¬ 
ance  with  the  order  of  the  Divine  working  in 
nature,  and  with  the  law  of  progress  which  has 
ruled  in  the  processes  of  creative  energy  from 
the  beginning. 


/ 


THE  HOL  Y  SPIRIT. 


201 


D. 

(Chap.  IV.,  p.  54.) 

PAUL,  NOT  MATTHIAS,  THE  TWELFTH  APOSTLE. 

The  Apostle  Paul  was  by  education  and  natural 
endowment  especially  qualified  for  the  work  of 
teaching  the  gospel  to  the  powerful  and  the 
learned.  The  other  eleven  were  men  from  the 
masses,  and  fitted  to  gain  sympathy  and  feel 
sympathy  with  them.  Paul  (one  in  twelve)  was 
learned  in  Jewish  and  Grecian  literature ;  and 
he  was  called  to  his  work  after  the  foundations 
had  been  laid  at  the  bottom  of  society  by  the 
other  apostles.  Reformations  always  begin  near 
the  bottom  of  society  and  work  upwards.  The 
highest  and  the  lowest  are  the  most  depraved 
circles,  excepting  always  the  criminals,  who  are 
enemies  of  all  society.  Hence  it  follows  that 
spiritual  religion  generally  reaches  the  upper 
circles  in  Church  and  State  last  of  all.  But 
still  some  rich  and  noble  are  called  up  to  the 


202 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF 


meekness  of  the  gospel,  and  Paul  was  the  man 
to  call  such  to  repentance.  He  was  a  man  of 
means,  of  character,  and  of  culture  ;  and  hence 
his  agency  was  needed  to  bring  the  truth  before 
the  educated  classes  of  his  time.  He  was  a 
sincere  Jew,  according  to  Moses,  having  passed 
in  his  experience  from  a  state  of  natural  reli¬ 
gion,  or  the  patriarchal,  to  a  state  of  conviction 
by  the  law  —  to  the  Pharisee  state,  in  which  he 
sought  for  salvation,  as  many  do  now,  by  ritual 
observances  —  the  state  which  Luther  had  reached 
when  he  found  the  Bible  at  Erfurth.  Paul’s 
religious  propensions,  his  sincerity,  his  culture, 
fitted  him,  when  endued  with  the  Spirit,  for  an 
extraordinary  place  in  the  company  of  the  apos- 
i ties.  To  fill  this  place,  Jesus  personally  chose 
him  to  the  apostleship.  Forgiven,  because  he 
had  ignorantly  persecuted  believers,  supposing 
that  he  was  doing  God  service  —  called  from  the 
midst  of  the  shekinah  by  the  voice  of  Christ ;  ^ 
when  a  suitable  time  had  passed  for  the  tumult 
of  thought  to  subside,  and  prayer  and  reflection 
to  supervene,  he  was  instructed  and  converted, 
and  then,  without  u  consulting  flesh  and  blood,” 
he  began  the  great  labor  of  his  life, —  a  labor 
by  which,  “  being  dead,  he  yet  speaketh.” 


THE  HOL  Y  SPIRIT. 


203 


As  before  stated,  liis  special  commission  is  de¬ 
clared,  and  liis  commission  given ;  Acts  ix,  15, 
1G, — “  He  is  a  chosen  vessel  unto  me,  to  bear 
my  name  before  Gentiles,  and  kings,  and  the 
children  of  Israel ;  and  I  will  show  him  how 
great  things  he  shall  suffer  for  my  sake.”  He, 
too,  “  had  seen  Christ,  as  one  born  out  of  due 
time,”  and  was  chosen,  Acts  xxii,  15,  u  to  be 
a  witness  to  all  men  of  what  he  had  seen  and 
heard.” 

Paul  claimed  to  be  an  apostle  in  the  same 
sense  in  which  the  other  eleven  were  apostles. 
Some,  it  seems,  had  doubted  his  apostolic  author¬ 
ity  ;  hence  to  the  Corinthians  he  says  (1  Cor. 
ix,  2),  “  If  I  be  not  an  apostle  to  others,  yet 
doubtless  I  am  to  you :  for  the  seal  of  mine 
apostleship  are  ye  in  the  Lord.”  And  again, 
(2  Cor.  xi,  5),  “For  I  suppose  that  I  am  nothing 
behind  the  very  chiefest  of  the  apostles.” 

He  administered  discipline  in  the  name,  and 
by  the  authority,  of  an  apostle.  1  Cor.  v,  3-5, 
— “  For  I  verily,  as  absent  in  body,  but  present 
in  spirit,  have  determined  already,  as  though  I 
were  present,  concerning  him  that  hath  done  this 
deed,  In  the  name  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  to 
deliver  such  an  one  unto  Satan  for  the  destruc- 


204 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF 


tion  of  the  flesh,  that  the  spirit  may  be  saved 
in  the  day  of  the  Lord  Jesus.” 

He  likewise  ordained  pastors  or  bishops  in  the 
churches,  and  imparted  the  Holy  Spirit  by  the 
laying  on  of  his  hands. 

Another  special  mark  of  apostleship,  promised 
by  the  Saviour,  was,  that  they  should  “go  forth, 
and  bear  fruit,  and  that  their  fruit  should  re¬ 
main.”'  Paul’s  epistles  are  numerous  and  spirit¬ 
ual.  They  “  remain,”  a  permanent  fruit  of  his 
life,  in  the  churches.  They  were  recognized  as 
Scripture  by  the  apostles  themselves  (2  Pet.  iii, 
15,  16),  and  they  will  be  received  as  Holy 
Scripture  till  the  end  of  the  world. 

Finally,  God,  by  His  Spirit  and  His  provi¬ 
dence,  recognized  Paul  as  an  apostle,  enduing 
him  with  apostolic  gifts  and  graces,  delivering 
him  from  enemies,  and  working  in  him  and 
through  him  for  the  detachment  of  the  new  dis¬ 
pensation  from  the  old,  to  which  believing  Jews 
then  adhered,  as  many  modern  Christians  still 
do,  with  the  utmost  tenacity. 

Several  things  may  be  learned  from  the  haste 
of  Peter  in  acting  without  the  promised  Spirit, 
and  the  subsequent  call  of  Paul  by  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ  himself. 


THE  HOL  Y  SPIRIT. 


205 


Ordination,  where  there  is  no  Holy  Spirit,  is 
not  scriptural  ordination.  The  laying  on  of  hands 
by  men  who  do  not  possess  the  spirit  of  Christ 
themselves,  is  not  consecration.  Hence,  offices 
and  interests  imparted  by  men  or  churches  whose 
spirit  is  merely  formal  and  secular,  have  no 
Divine  validity.  The  men  appointed  under  such 
circumstances  may  be  good  and  useful,  as  many 
of  them  are.  Communications  of  grace  from 
above  may  be  granted  them.  But  the  seal  of 
God  is  not  in  the  act  of  ordination.  And  Paul, 
called  of  God,  with  only  the  right  hand  of  fel¬ 
lowship  given  him  by  the  apostles,  does  the 
work  of  God  better  than  Matthias,  ordained  by 
non-spiritual  administrators. 


206 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF 


E. 

(Chap.  V.,  p.  102.) 

THE  SOURCE  OF  FANATICISM. 

The  want  of  a  clear  perception  of  the  doc¬ 
trine  that  the  Holy  Spirit  does  not  speak  of 
Himself — does  not  teach  any  new  thing — has 
been  a  fruitful  source  of  disorder  and  fanaticism 
in  all  asf'es.  Some  who  have  claimed  to  be  led 

O 

by  the  Spirit  have  forgotten  that  the  Spirit 
leads  only  by  the  truth  which  Christ  revealed 
in  the  New  Testament.  The  Spirit  brings  truth 
to  remembrance,  but  it  is  by  the  law  of  sug¬ 
gestion —  and  it  is  “all  things  whatsoever  Christ 
said” — not  new  truth  or  revelation  to  individ¬ 
uals.  The  Spirit  can  not  bring  to  remembrance 
truth  that  was  never  in  the  mind,  hence  in¬ 
struction  in  truth  is  in  order  to  the  work  of  the 
Spirit.  Moreover,  persons  who  claim  to  be 
moved  by  the  Holy  Spirit  ought  not  to  forget 
that  “  the  spirit  of  the  prophets  is  subject  unto 


THE  HOL  Y  SPIRIT. 


207 


the  prophets.”  Paul  could  speak  with  tongues 
more  than  all  others,  yet  he  would  not  do  it, 
and  seems  to  censure  those  who  did. 

*  The  sure  point  of  fanaticism  is  when  an  in¬ 
dividual  claims  that  his  mind  is  passively  con¬ 
trolled  by  Divine  influence.  If  the  Spirit  con¬ 
trols  the  will  of  the  subject  in  worship  or  duty, 
it  is  not  the  free  responsible  subject  worshiping 
God,  but  God  worshiping  and  obeying  Himself. 
The  precepts  of  the  New  Testament  in  regard 
to  the  Spirit  are  all  addressed  to  the  human 
agent.  “Walk  in  the  Spirit.”  “Be  filled  with 
the  Spirit.”  “  Grieve  not  the  Spirit.”  These 
imply  the  self-control  of  the  being  who  receives 
the  command — self-control  in  regard  to ,  and  under 
the  influence  of  the  Spirit  of  God. 

The  word  and  example  of  Christ  are  the 
guides, — the  spirit  is  power  prompting  to  speak 
and  to  do.  It  gives  the  impulse  of  life  and  love 
in  the  heart  or  sensibility,  and  through  the 
emotions  of  conscience  and  love  the  will  is  in¬ 
fluenced  to  obey  Christ.  Any  one  that  claims 
to  be  wise  above  what  is  written,  or  to  have 
received  any  new  revelation  from  the  Spirit,  or 
to  be  filled  with  a  spirit  that  produces  any  other 


208 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF 


impulse  than  doing  good  to  men  * — such  claim  in 
itself  is  evidence  that  the  impression  does  not 
come  from  the  Spirit  of  Christ. 

The  fanaticism  of  impulse,  apart  from  revealed 
ruth,  has  been  the  bane  by  which  Satan  has 
abated  the  strength  and  impeded  the  progress 
of  all  great  moral  reformations.  It  marred  and 
arrested  the  progress  of  the  Lutheran  Reforma¬ 
tion  on  the  Continent.  The  Wesleys  labored 
wisely  and  earnestly  to  discriminate  the  vital 
doctrine  of  the  Spirit  from  the  delusive  and 
emotional  experiences  which  manifested  themselves 
in  some  departments  of  their  work.  Jonathan 
Edwards  wrote  a  treatise  on  the  same  subject ; 
many  of  the  Friends  or  Quakers  erred  in  the 
same  direction.  It  is  the  point  where  the  holiest 
minds  are  sometimes  tempted.  This  is  exempli¬ 
fied  in  the  temptation  of  the  Saviour.  When 
Christ  overcame  the  temptations  of  the  devil  by 
trust  in  God,  the  next  temptation  was  to  lead 
the  mind  too  far  in  the  direction  where  it  had 
experienced  Divine  favor ;  hence  the  temptation 
was,  to  pass  from  trust  to  presumption.  Christ, 

*  See  “  God  Revealed  in  Creation  and  in  Christ.”  Book  II, 
chap.  6. 


THE  HOLY  SPIRIT. 


209 


as  man’s  example,  maintained  His  integrity  by 
walking  in  the  path  of  duty,  guided  by  a  true 
application  of  Scripture ,  which  He  quoted  and 
applied  to  His  circumstances. 

William  Penn  saw  the  liability  to  error  at 
this  point,  and  frequently  in  his  larger  treatises, 
as  in  the  lesser  exposition  of  the  Quaker  tenets, 
states  the  correct  doctrine  of  the  Word  and 
Spirit.  In  the  tract  called  “  Gospel  Truths,”  he 
gives  “  a  brief  account  ot  those  things  which 
are  chiefly  received  and  professed  among  us,  the 
people  called  Quakers,  according  to  the  testimony 
of  the  Scriptures  of  truth,  and  the  illumination 
of  the  Holy  Ghost,  ivhich  are  the  double  and 
agreeing  record  of  true  religion .” 

In  the  “  General  Epistle  to  the  People  of 
God  ”  he  says,  “  His  word  of  light,  grace,  and 
truth  in  the  heart,  will  cleanse  the  young  man’s 
ways,  and  guide  the  old  man  in  the  path  he 
should  walk  to  peace.  I  found  that  from  the 
revelation  of  this  word  in  the  soul  springs  the 
true  conviction  and  knowledge  of  God,  and  a 
man’s  self,  and  by  nothing  else  can  a  man  be 
convicted  and  born  again.” 

In  the  tract,  “  Fiction  Found  Out,”  he  briefly 

14 


✓ 


210 


THE  DOC  1  RINE  OF 


enunciates  his  confession  of  faitli.  The  first  item 
is,  “  That  the  grace  of  God  within  me,  and  the 
Scriptures  ivithout  me,  are  the  foundation  and 
declaration  of  my  faith  and  religion,  and  let  any 
man  get  better  if  he  can.” 


r 


THE  HOLY  SPIRIT. 


211 


F. 


(Chap.  VI,  p.  105.) 


VIEWS  OF  THE  FIRST  CHRISTIANS  CONCERNING  THE 
SECOND  APPEARANCE  OF  CHRIST. 

It  is  doubtful  whether  the  apostles  ever  under¬ 
stood,  as  we  may  now,  the  relations  of  the 
promise  in  regard  to  Christ’s  second  appearing.* 
The  time  of  His  appearing  to  destroy  the  tem¬ 
ple,  and  with  it  the  old  dispensation,  they  did 
not  definitely  know,  although  they  had  intima¬ 
tions  by  which  they  might  discern  its  approach, 
and  prepare  for  the  event  (Heb.  x,  25).  But 
of  the  period  of  Christ’s  appearing  to  judge  the 
world  they  had  no  knowledge,  and  the  Saviour 
refused  to  give  them  even  an  intimation  upon 
the  subject,  except  that  the  papal  apostacy  would 
first  rise  and  fall.  Christ’s  coming  and  the  end 

*  It  was  best,  in  many  views  of  the  subject,  that  this  and 
some  other  non-essentials  should  not  be  fully  developed  in  the 
first  period. 


212 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF 


of  the  world  were  events  always  associated  in 
the  minds  of  the  disciples.  When  He  had  spoken 
to  them  of  the  certain  destruction  of  the  city 
and  of  the  temple,  affirming  (Matt,  xxiv,  2), 
“  there  shall  not  be  one  stone  left  upon  another,” 
the  disciples  inquire  concerning  two  things  spe¬ 
cifically:  (1)  “Tell  us  when  shall  these  things 
(the  destruction  of  the  temple)  be ;  and  (2), 
“What  shall  be  the  sign  of  Thy  coming,  and 
of  the  end  of  the  world  ?  ”  To  these  two  ques¬ 
tions  Jesus  answers.  His  answers  are  clear, 
although  commentators  generally  confuse  the 
sense.  To  the  first,  the  destruction  of  the  city, 
He  answers,  Matt,  xxiv,  from  the  4th  to  the 
29th  verse,  giving  intimation  of  the  approaching 
fall  of  Jerusalem,  and  indicating  in  the  last  verse 
of  the  passage  that  the  city,  which  would  be 
destroyed  within  the  lifetime  of  some  then  liv¬ 
ing,  would  be  overthrown  by  the  Roman  army. 

From  the  29th  to  the  31st  verse  He  speaks 
of  the  general  diffusion  of  the  gospel  through 
the  known  world  by  His  disciples,  who  would 
be  preserved  in  the  fall  of  the  city,  and  dis¬ 
persed  at  the  destruction  of  the  Jewish  state. 
The  sun  and  stars  are,  throughout  the  Bible, 
the  proper  symbols  for  the  ruling  powers  of  a 


THE  HOL  Y  SPIRIT. 


213 


state.  By  the  desolation  and  fall  of  these  the 
disciples  are  taught  that  the  Jewish  state  and 
rulers  would  be  thrown  down  at  the  destruction 
of  Jerusalem.  The  power  of  the  old  dispensa¬ 
tion  would  cease; — then  the  power  of  the  new 
dispensation  would  appear  in  progress  —  a  pro¬ 
gress  to  be  accomplished  by  the  dispersion  of  the 
Christians,  who  had  been  admonished  to  flee 
from  Jerusalem,  and  probably  from  Judea,  and 
who  carried  the  gospel  whithersoever  they  went. 

Then,  from  the  32nd  to  the  35th  verses,  He 
tells  them  when  they  should  see  the  natural  in¬ 
dication  of  such  events  as  those  of  which  He 
had  spoken  ;  then,  to  be  assured  that  the  end 
of  the  Jewish  state  and  dispensation  was  at  hand, 
and  to  flee  speedily  from  the  coming  destruction. 

But  in  regard  to  the  second  question  (or  the 
second  and  third,  if  any  choose  to  construe  it 
in  that  sense)  He  answers  with  the  same  ex¬ 
plicitness.  They  ask,  secondly,  “  And  what  will 
be  the  sign  of  thy  coming ,  and  of  the  end  of  the 
world 

To  this,  after  answering  the  first,  He  replies 
from  the  36th  to  the  46th  verses,  “  Of  that  day 
and  that  hour  knoiveth  no  man ,  wo,  not  the  angels 
of  heaven ,  but  my  Father  only.” 


214 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF 


He  tells  them  that  the  latter  period  would 
come  unexpectedly.  That  the  duty  in  regard  to 
that  event  was  to  watch  and  to  work  as  a  ser¬ 
vant.  That  character,  not  outward  circumstances, 
would  he  the  criterion  of  safety  (ver.  40,  41). 
He  then,  in  the  25th  chapter,  gives  the  Parable 
of  the  Virgins,  indicating  an  absence  longer  than 
was  anticipated,  and  that,  on  account  of  the  ap¬ 
parent  delay,  spirituality  and  watchfulness  would 
abate  in  true  Christians,  and  be  lost  by  forma¬ 
lists.  The  Parable  of  the  Talents  follows,  to 
show  that  the  period  was  distant,  but  at  the 
same  time  it  was  as  near  in  one  sense  as  the 
close  of  each  man’s  probation.  When  each  had 
used  his  talent  in  the  absence  of  his  Lord,  then 
an  account  must  be  given,  and  judgment  passed 
in  view  of  the  use  of  the  talents  intrusted  to 
each  individual.  The  passage  closes  with  the 
final  scene  of  the  judgment,  predicated  on  pro¬ 
bation,  in  which  He  represents  Himself  as  the 
representative  of  the  suffering  and  the  needy, 
and  assures  them  that  at  His  final  advent  men 
will  be  judged  in  view  of  the  good  they  had 
done  in  His  name  to  their  fellow-men ;  and 
that  He  will  receive  good  done  to  others  as 
being  done  to  Himself ;  and  that  their  future 


THE  HOL  Y  SPIRIT. 


215 


destiny  will  depend  upon  a  life-time  of  loving 
labor  for  the  ignorant  and  the  needy.  He  makes 
no  event  to  intervene  between  probation  and 
judgment. 

There  are  different  dispositions  of  the  several 
verses  by  different  evangelists,  which  may  perplex 
the  expositor,  but  the  outline  and  impression  of 
the  whole  are  the  same.  (1.)  The  place  of  the 
Jewish  dispensation  and  state  was  to  be  destroyed 
in  that  generation.  (2.)  The  dispersed  Christians 
to  preach,  in  time  of  distress,  the  gospel  through¬ 
out  the  world.  (3.)  The  time  of  the  judgment 
at  the  end  of  the  world  unknown.  (4.)  Christ 
would  be  absent  in  person.  A  probation  under 
the  gospel  would  ensue,  but  during  the  long 
delay  Christians  would  cease  to  watch,  and  sleep 
together  with  formal  professors.  But  unexpect¬ 
edly,  at  the  end  of  personal  probation,  or  at 
death,  the  Lord  would  come  to  reward  the  faith¬ 
ful,  punish  the  unprofitable,  and  destroy  those 
who  rebelled  against  the  reign  of  justice  and 
love.  It  was  therefore  not  only  inexpedient, 
but  it  was  merciful,  in  view  of  the  circumstances 
of  the  early  disciples,  that  the  long  period  which 
was  to  intervene  in  time  between  the  first  and 
second  personal  advent  should  not  be  made 


216 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF 


known  to  them.  It  is  difficult,  in  our  present 
state,  to  connect  the  end  of  life  and  the  end  of 
the  world  together  in  the  same  motive ;  and 
yet,  in  both  a  practical  and  a  spiritual  sense, 
they  are  the  same,  albeit  one  be  distant  in  time 
and  the  other  near  in  eternity.  All  the  actions 
upon  which  judgment  is  predicated  close  at  death. 
As  in  a  dream  the  sleepers  are  probably  con¬ 
scious  of  activity,  of  locality,  of  joy,  while  yet 
they  may  have  no  sense  of  time.  Hence  death 
and  judgment,  although  temporarily  distant,  may 
be  spiritually  near. 

All  we  can  do  in  probation  is  limited  by  the 
end  of  life  ;  and  the  motive  to  watch  and  to 
work  is  the  same  in  both  forms.  Yet  the  king¬ 
dom  of  Christ,  and  Christ’s  personal  coming  at 
hand,  have  more  of  the  spirit  of  faith  and  of 
immortality  in  them  than  the  idea  that  the  end 
of  life  is  near.  Hence  it  was  no  part  of  Christ’s 
mission  to  reveal  the  judgment-period  in  any 
form.  It  was  not  revealed  to  the  Son  of  Man, 
nor  to  the  angels,  but  was  known  to  the  Father 
only.  Therefore  said  Jesus  to  His  inquiring 
disciples,  even  after  His  resurrection,  “  It  is  not 
for  you  to  know  the  times  or  the  seasons  which 
the  Father  hath  puc  in  his  own  power.”  The 


THE  HOL  Y  SPIRIT. 


217 


true  and  the  operative  idea  is  to  believe  Christ’s 
coming  at  hand.  “  After  death  the  judgment.” 

But  even  after  the  outpouring  of  the  Spirit, 
the  question  continued  to  be  agitated.  The  first 
converts  knew  there  were  admonitions  concern¬ 
ing  watchfulness,  flight,  life,  death,  and  judg¬ 
ment  ;  and  they  did  not  discriminate  between 
the  end  of  the  old  dispensation,  and  that  of  the 
new.  Scoffers, —  probably  apostates, —  began  to 
urge  objections,  and  in  some  of  the  first  churches 
there  was  anxiety  in  the  minds  of  believers  on 
the  question  of  Christ’s  personal  appearance.  The 
people  being  thus  interested  and  anxious,  the 
apostles  reply  to  the  scoffers,  present  and  pros¬ 
pective,  on  one  hand,  and  to  sincere  inquirers 
on  the  other.  They  tell  all  they  know  in  re¬ 
gard  to  the  matter,  and  all  that  was  necessary 
for  the  guidance  of  Christians  in  order  to  their 
sanctification. 

To  those  who  scoffed  and  said  (2  Pet.  iii), 
“  Where  is  the  promise  of  his  coming,  for  since 
the  Father  fell  asleep  all  things  have  continued 
as  they  were  from  the  beginning  of  the  crea¬ 
tion  ?  ”  the  apostle  answers  in  a  form  applica¬ 
ble  to  the  past  and  present. 

The  same  class  of  scoffers  exist  now,  as  then. 


218 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF 


God,  they  say,  instituted  the  laws  of  nature  at 
the  creation,  He  then  withdrew.  All  things 
take  place  by  law  since  the  beginning,  and 
therefore  no  divine  interposition  is  possible.  Peter 

t 

replies,  affirming  that  geological  changes  have 
taken  place  in  the  past,  even  to  the  destruction 
of  the  earth  ;  and  hence  they  may  occur  again. 
He  affirms  that  the  delay  is  in  order  to  pro¬ 
bation,  that  God  desires  to  save  some  out  of  a 
selfish  race  ;  that  the  time,  although  long  to  us, 
is  not  long  to  God ;  but  that  the  end  will 
come;  the  judgment  will  sit,  and  God  will  des¬ 
troy  the  wicked  and  the  world  together,  and 
after  the  change  there  will  ensue  “new  heavens 
and  a  new  earth,  in  which  shall  dwell  the 
righteous.”  Then,  lest  the  notion  of  Christ  at 
hand  might  lose  force  by  his  exposition,  he  closes 
his  epistles  by  the  faithful  words,  “  Ye  there¬ 
fore,  beloved,  seeing  ye  know  these  things  be¬ 
fore,  beware  lest  ye  also,  being  led  astray  by 
the  error  of  the  wicked  [that  Christ  will  not 
come],  fall  from  your  own  steadfastness.*  But 
grow  in  grace,  and  in  the  knowledge  of  our 

Thus  Christ’s  personal  advent  at  hand  was,  as  Gibbon 
alleges,  made  a  motive  to  induce  steadfastness  in  the  apostolic 
age,  as  it  has  been  at  various  periods  down  to  our  own  time. 


THE  HOL  Y  SPIRIT. 


219 


Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ.  To  him  be  glory 
both  now  and  forever.  Amen.” 

The  Apostle  Paul  answers  to  those  believers 
at  Thessalonica,  who  were  anxious  in  regard  to 
this  subject.  In  his  first  letter  he  had  spoken 
of  the  final  judgment  (chap,  iv,  13  - 18),  and 

had  described  the  hopes  connected  with  the  mo¬ 
mentous  event  as  a  consolation  to  believers  whose 
friends  had  deceased.  He  tells  them  to  comfort 
themselves  by  these  words ;  but  immediately 
adds,  —  “  But  of  the  times  and  the  seasons, 

brethren,  ye  have  no  need  that  I  write  unto 

you.  For  yourselves  know  perfectly  that  the 
day  of  the  Lord  so  cometli  as  a  thief  in  the 
night.  For  when  they  shall  say,  Peace  and 
safety ;  then  sudden  destruction  cometh  upon 

them.”  These  are  the  words  of  Christ  repeated 
in  the  language  of  Paul. 

But  this  church,  probably  by  erroneous  preach¬ 
ing  and  false  spirits,  was  led  to  misconceive  this 
language  of  the  apostle  in  his  first  letter.  He 
hears  of  this,  and  corrects  their  wrong  impres¬ 
sions  in  his  second.  He  tells  them  of  further 
intimations  which  Christ  had  left  with  His  apos¬ 
tles  in  regard  to  the  same  subject.  He  says 
there  must  come  a  great  apostasy  before  the 


220 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF 


second  coming  of  Christ.  He  then,  in  2  *  Thess. 
iii,  describes  the  Papal  Apostasy  in  its  most 
striking  features,  and  says  it  must  rise  and  reign 
and  be  destroyed  before  the  second  advent  of 
the  Redeemer,  and  closes,  as  the  Apostle  Peter 
has  done,  with  an  exhortation  to  steadfastness.* 
The  apostasy  spoken  of  has  risen  and  reigned. 
In  the  Reformation,  the  judgment  turned  against 
it.  Now  God  by  His  providence  and  His  truth 
is  “  consuming  and  destroying  it  unto  the  end.” 
All  anti-Christian  powers  are  in  their  decadence. 
Judgment,  even  to  the  seventh  vial,  is  being 
inflicted  upon  every  nation,  state  and  church 
that  refuses  to  make  moral  progress.  The  end 
is  at  hand.  “  Even  so  come  Lord  Jesus.” 

*  Eph.  vi,  6  —  Heb.  iv,  12. 


/ 


THE  HOL  Y  SPIRIT. 


221 


G. 


(Chap.  VI,  p.  1 1 5.) 


BISHOP  JEREMY  TAYLOR  ON  THE  EVIDENCE  OF 

THE  HOLY  SPIRIT. 

✓  » 

The  progress  of  spiritual  religion  has  been  but 
little  furthered  by  the  publication  of  many  trea¬ 
tises  on  the  evidences  of  Christianity ;  especially 
treatises  on  the  external  evidence,  according  to 
the  manner  of  the  eminent  Dr.  Chalmers.  Such 
external  evidences  have  their  place,  but  it  is  not 
the  place  usually  assigned  them.  They  may  aid 
the  intellect  in  regard  to  an  historical  question ; 
but  it  may  be  doubted  whether  they  turn  the 

attention  of  those  most  enlightened  by  them  in 
a  right  direction.  There  is  such  a  thing  as  the 
faith  of  men  standing  “  in  the  wisdom  of  man 
and  not  in  the  power  of  God.”  Paul  sought  to 
avoid  such  a  result  in  connection  with  his 
teaching.  Treatises  such  as  those  of  Erskine, 
Jenys,  and  others,  showing  that  gospel  principles 


222 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF 


are  true  in  themselves,  and  in  their  adaptation 
to  man’s  nature  and  wants,  are  of  spiritual  value, 
because  they  relate  not  to  the  letter  but  to  the 
principles  —  the  spirit  and  practice  of  the  gospel. 
Yet,  after  all,  there  is  a  witness  to  the  gospel 
accompanying  the  truth,  and  offered  to  all  men 
who  are  willing  to  obey  Christ.  That  witness 
is  infallible.  It  is  the  “  Spirit  of  Christ  that  is 
witness  for  us.” 

The  following  passages,  on  the  subject  of  the 
true  evidence  of  the  Divine  in  our  holy  religion, 
are  taken  from  the  excellent  treatise  of  Dr. 
Knox — “  Christian  Philosophy.” 


Opinions  of  Bishop  Taylor  respecting  the  Evidence 
of  the  Holy  Spirit;  “showing,”  as  he  expresses 
it,  “ how  the  scholars  of  the  Universities  shall 
become  most  learned  and  most  useful .” 

“  We  have  examined  all  ways,  in  our  inquiries 
after  religious  truth,  but  one ;  all  but  God’s 
way.*  Let  us,  having  missed  in  all  the  other, 
try  this.  Let  us  go  to  God  for  truth ;  for  truth 
comes  from  God  only.  If  we  miss  the  truth,  it 

i 

*  See  Bishop  Taylor’s  “Via  Intelligentiae,” 


THE  HOL  Y  SPIRIT. 


223 


is  because  we  will  not  find  it ;  for  certain  it  is, 
that  all  the  truth  which  God  hath  made  neces¬ 
sary,  He  hath  also  made  legible  and  plain ;  and 
if  we  will  open  our  eyes  we  shall  see  the  sun, 
and  if  4  we  will  walk  in  the  light,  we  shall 
rejoice  in  the  light.’  Only  let  us  withdraw  the 
curtains,  let  us  remove  the  impediments,  and 
the  sin  that  doth  so  easily  beset  us.  That  is 
God’s  way.  Every  man  must,  in  his  station,  do 
that  portion  of  duty  which  God  requires  of  him, 
and  then  he  shall  be  taught  of  God  all  that  is 
fit  for  him  to  learn ;  there  is  no  other  way  for 
him  but  this.  The  fear  of  the  Lord  is  the  be¬ 
ginning  of  wisdom ;  and  a  good  understanding 
have  all  they  that  do  thereafter.  And  so  said 
David  of  himself :  4 1  have  more  understanding 
than  my  teachers ;  because  I  keep  thy  command¬ 
ments.’  And  this  is  the  only  way  which  Christ 
has  taught  us.  If  you  ask,  4  What  is  truth  ?  ’ 
you  must  not  do  as  Pilate  did,  ask  the  question 
and  then  go  away  from  Him  that  only  can  give 
you  an  answer ;  for  as  God  is  the  Author  of 
truth,  so  He  is  the  Teacher  of  it,  and  the  way 
to  learn  is  this ;  for  so  saith  our  blessed  Lord ; 
4  If  any  man  will  do  his  will,  he  shall  know  of 
the  doctrine  whether  it  be  of  God  or  no.’ 


224 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF 


“  This  text  is  simple  as  truth  itself,  but  greatly 
comprehensive,  and  contains  a  truth  that  alone 
will  enable  you  to  understand  all  mysteries,  and 
to  expound  all  prophecies,  and  to  interpret  all 
Scriptures,  and  to  search  into  all  secrets,  all,  I 
mean,  which  concern  our  happiness  and  our 

duty.  It  is  plainly  to  be  resolved  into  this 

proposition : 

“  The  way  to  judge  of  religion  is  by  doing 
our  duty ;  and  theology  is  rather  a  divine  life 
than  a  divine  knowledge. 

“  In  heaven,  indeed,  we  shall  first  see  and 

then  love;  but  here  on  earth  we  must  first  love, 

and  love  will  open  our  eyes  as  well  as  our 
hearts,  and  we  shall  then  see  and  perceive  and 
understand. 

“  Every  man  understands  more  of  religion  by 
his  affections  than  by  his  reason.  It  is  not  the 
wit  of  the  man,  but  the  spirit  of  the  man ;  not 
so  much  his  head  as  his  heart  that  learns  the 
divine  philosophy* 

“  There  is  in  every  righteous  man  a  new  vital 
principle.  The  spirit  of  grace  is  the  spirit  of 
wisdom,  and  teaches  us  by  secret  inspirations,  by 
proper  arguments,  by  actual  persuasions,  by  per¬ 
sonal  applications,  by  effects  and  energies ;  and 


THE  HOL  Y  SPIRIT. 


225 


as  the  soul  of  man  is  the  cause  of  all  his  vital 
operations,  so  is  the  Spirit  of  God  the  life  of 
that  life,  and  the  cause  of  all  actions  and  pro¬ 
ductions  spiritual ;  and  the  consequence  of  this 
is  what  St.  John  tells  us  of :  4  Ye  have  received 
the  unction  from  above,  and  that  anointing 
teacheth  you  all  things,’ — all  things  of  some  one 
kind ;  that  is,  certainly  all  things  that  pertain 
to  life  and  godliness :  all  that  by  which  a  man 
is  wise  and  happy.  Unless  the  soul  have  a  new 
life  put  into  it,  unless  there  be  a  vital  principle 
within,  unless  the  Spirit  of  life  be  the  informer 
of  the  spirit  of  the  man,  the  word  of  God  will 
be  as  dead  in  the  operation  as  the  body  in  its 
powers  and  possibilities. 

“  God’s  spirit  does  not  destiny  reason,  but 
heightens  it.  God  opens  the  heart  and  creates 
a  new  one,  and  without  this  creation,  this  new 
principle  of  life,  we  may  hear  the  word  of  God, 
but  we  can  never  understand  it ;  we  hear  the 
sound,  but  are  never  the  better.  Unless  there 
be  in  our  hearts  a  secret  conviction  by  the  Spirit 
of  God,  the  gospel  itself  is  a  dead  letter. 

“  Do  we  not  see  this  by  daily  experience  ? 

Even  those  things  which  a  good  man  and  an 

evil  man  know  they  do  not  know  both  alike.  An 

15 


226 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF 


evil  man  knows  that  God  is  lovely,  and  that  sin 
is  of  an  evil  and  destructive  nature,  and  when 
he  is  reproved  he  is  convinced ;  and  when  he 
is  observed  he  is  ashamed ;  and  when  he  has 
done  he  is  unsatisfied ;  and  when  he  pursues 
his  sin,  he  does  it  in  the  dark.  Tell  him  he 
shall  die,  and  he-  sighs  .deeply,  but  he  knows  it 
as  well  as  you.  Proceed,  and  say  that  after 
death  comes  judgment,  and  the  poor  man  be¬ 
lieves  and  trembles ;  and  yet,  after  all  this,  he 
runs  to  commit  his  sin  Avith  as  certain  an  event 
and  resolution  as  if  he  knew  no  argument 
against  it. 

“  Now  since,  at  the  same  time,  we  see  other 
persons,  not  so  learned,  it  may  be,  not  so  much 
versed  in  the  Scriptures,  yet  they  say  a  thing 
is  good  and  lay  hold  of  it.  They  believe  glo¬ 
rious  things  of  heaven,  and  they  live  accordingly, 
as  men  that  believe  themselves.  What  is  the 
reason  of  this  difference?  They  both  read  the 
Scriptures ;  they  read  and  hear  the  same  ser¬ 
mons  ;  they  have  capable  understandings ;  they 
both  believe  what  they  hear  and  what  they  read ; 
and  yet  the  event  is  vastly  different.  The  rea¬ 
son  is  that  which  I  am  now  speaking  of :  the 
one  understands  by  one  principle,  the  other  by 


TIIE  HOLY  SPIRIT. 


227 


another ;  the  one  understands  by  nature,  the 
other  by  grace  ;  the  one  by  human  learning,  the 
other  by  divine ;  the  one  reads  the  Scriptures 
without,  and  the  other  within ;  the  one  under¬ 
stands  as  a  son  of  man,  the  other  as  a  son  of 
God ;  the  one  perceives  by  the  proportions  of 
the  world,  the  other  by  the  measures  of  the 
Spirit ;  the  one  understands  by  reason,  the  other 
by  love  ;  and  therefore  he  does  not  only  under¬ 
stand  the  sermons  of  the  Spirit  and  perceive 
their  meaning,  but  he  pierces  deeper,  and  knows 
the  meaning  of  that  meaning  ;  that  is,  the  secret 
of  the  Spirit,  that  which  is  spiritually  discerned, 
that  which  gives  life  to  the  proposition  and 
activity  to  the  soul.  And  the  reason  is,  that  he 
hath  a  divine  principle  within  him  and  a  new 
understanding ;  that  is,  plainly,  he  hath  love, 
and  that  is  more  than  knowledge,  as  was  rarely 
well  observed  by  St.  Paul :  ‘  Knowledge  puffeth 
up ;  -  but  charity*  edifieth ;  ’  that  is,  charity 
j  maketh  the  best  scholars.  No  sermons  can  build 
you  up  a  holy  building  to  God  unless  the  love 
of  God  be  in  your  hearts,  and  purify  your  souls 
from  all  filthiness  of  the  flesh  and  spirit. 

“A  good  life  is  the  best  way  to  understand 

*  Ayann,  —  “  Love  of  God.” 


228 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF 


wisdom  and  religion,  because,  by  the  experiences 
and  relishes  of  religion,  there  is  conveyed  to 
them  a  sweetness  to  which  all  wicked  men  are 
strangers.  There  is  in  the  things  of  God,  to 
those  who  practice  them,  a  deliciousness  that 
makes  us  love  them,  and  that  love  admits  us  into 
God’s  cabinet,  and  strangely  clarifies  the  under¬ 
standing  by  the  purification  of  the  heart.  For 
when  our  reason  is  raised  up  by  the  Spirit  of 
Christ,  it  is  turned  quickly  into  experience  ;  when 
our  faith  relies  upon  the  principles  of  Christ  it 
is  changed  into  vision  ;  and  so  long  as  we  know 
God  only  in  the  ways  of  men,  by  contentious 
learning,  by  arguing  and  dispute,  we  see  nothing 
but  the  shadow  of  Him,  and  in  that  shadow 
we  meet  with  many  dark  appearances,  little  cer¬ 
tainty,  and  much  conjecture ;  but  when  we  know 
Him  in  the  Spirit,  and  see  Him  with  the  eyes 
of  holiness  and  the  instruction  of  gracious  expe¬ 
riences,  with  a  quiet  spirit  and  the  peace  of 
enjoyment,  then  we  shall  hear  what  we  never 

heard,  and  see  what  our  eyes  never  saw ;  then 

\ 

the  mysteries  of  godliness  shall  be  open  unto 
us,  and  clear  as  the  windows  of  the  morning ; 
and  this  is  rarely  well  expressed  by  the  apostle ; 
‘  If  we  stand  up  from  the  dead  and  awake  from 
sleep,  then  Christ  shall  give  us  light.’ 


TIIE  IIOL  V  SPIRIT. 


229 


4 4  For  the  Scriptures  themselves  are  written  by 
the  Spirit  of  God,  yet  they  are  written  within 
and  without ;  and  besides  the  light  that  shines 
upon  the  face  of  them,  unless  there  be  a  light 
shining  within  our  hearts,  unfolding  the  leaves, 
and  interpreting  the  mysterious  sense  of  the 
Spirit,  convincing  our  consciences  and  preaching 
to  our  hearts,  to  look  for  Christ  in  the  leaves 
of  the  gospel  is  to  look  for  the  living  among 
the  dead.  There  is  a  life  in  them ,  but  that 
life  is,  according  to  St.  Paul’s  expression,  4  hid 
with  Christ  in  God,’  and  unless  the  Spirit  of 
God  draw  it  forth,  we  shall  not  be  able. 

44  Human  learning  brings  excellent  ministries 
towards  this ;  it  is  admirably  useful  for  the  re¬ 
proof  of  heresies,  for  the  detection  of  fallacies, 
for  the  letter  of  the  Scriptures,  for  collateral 
testimonies,  for  exterior  advantages ;  but  there 
is  something  beyond  this,  that  human  learning 
without  the  addition  of  divine  can  never  reach. 

4*  A  good  man,  though  unlearned  in  secular 
knowledge,  is  like  the  windows  of  the  temple, 
narrow  without  and  broad  within ;  he  sees  not 
so  much  of  what  profits  not  abroad,  but  what¬ 
soever  is  within,  and  concerns  religion  and  the 
glorifications  of  God,  that  he  sees  with  a  broad 


230 


THE  DOCTRINE  UE 


inspection ;  blit  all  human  learning  with  God  is 
hut  blindness  and  folly.  One  man  discourses  of 
the  sacrament,  another  receives  Christ ;  one  dis¬ 
courses  for  or  against  transubstantiation  ;  but  the 
good  man  feels  himself  to  be  changed,  and  so 
joined  to  Christ,  that  he  only  understands  the 
true  sense  of  transubstantiation,  while  he  becomes 
to  Christ  bone  of  His  bone,  flesh  of  His  flesh, 
and  of  the  same  spirit  with  his  Lord. 

“  From  holiness  we  have  the  best  instruction. 
For  that  which  we  are  taught  by  the  Holy 
Spirit  of  God,  this  new  nature,  this  vital  prin¬ 
ciple  within  us,  it  is  that  which  is  worth  our 
learning ;  not  vain  and  empty,  idle  and  insig¬ 
nificant  notions,  in  which,  when  you  have  labored 
till  your  eyes  are  fixed  in  their  orbs,  and  your 
flesh  unfixed  from  its  bones,  you  are  no  better 
and  no  wiser.  If  the  Spirit  of  God  be  your 
Teacher,  He  will  teach  you  such  truths  as  will 
make  you  know  and  love  God,  and  become  like 
to  Him,  and  enjoy  Him  for  ever,  by  passing 
from  similitude  to  union  and  eternal  fruition. 

“Too  many  scholars  have  lived  upon  air  and 
empty  notions  for  many  ages  past,  and  troubled 
themselves  with  tying  and  untying  knots,  like 
hypochondriacs  in  a  fit  of  melancholy,  thinking  of 


THE  HOL  V  SPIRIT. 


281 


nothings,  and  troubling  themselves  with  nothings, 
and  falling  out  about  nothings,  and  being  very 
wise  and  very  learned  in  things  that  are  not, 
and  work  not,  and  were  never  planted  in  Para¬ 
dise  by  the  finger  of  God.  If  the  Spirit  of  God 
be  our  teacher,  we  shall  learn  to  avoid  evil  and 
to  do  good,  to  be  wise  and  to  be  holy,  and  to 
be  profitable  and  careful ;  and  they  that  walk 
in  this  way  shall  find  more  peace  in  their  con¬ 
sciences,  more  skill  in  the  Scriptures,  more  satis¬ 
faction  in  their  doubts,  than  can  be  obtained  by 
all  the  polemical  and  impertinent  disputations  of 
the  world.  The  man  that  is  wise,  he  that  is 
conducted  by  the  Spirit  of  God,  knows  better 
in  what  Christ’s  kingdom  doth  consist  than  to 
throw  away  his  time  and  interest,  his  peace  and 
safety, —  for  what  ?  for  religion  ?  no ;  for  the 
body  of  religion  ?  not  so  much ;  for  the  gar¬ 
ment  of  the  body  of  religion  ?  no,  not  for  so 
much ;  but  for  the  fringes  of  the  garment  of 
the  body  of  religion ;  for  such,  and  no  better, 
are  many  religious  disputes ;  things,  or  rather 
circumstances  and  manners  of  things,  in  which 
the  soul  and  spirit  are  not  at  all  concerned. 
The  knowledge  which  comes  from  godliness  is 
an  unction  from  the  Holy  One  —  a  something 


232 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF 


more  certain  and  divine  than  all  demonstrations 
and  human  learning. 

“And  now  to  conclude:  —  to  you  I  speak, 
fathers  and  brethren,  you  who  are,  or  intend  to 
be,  of  the  clergy ;  you  see  here  the  best  com¬ 
pendium  of  your  studies,  the  best  alleviation  of 
your  labors,  the  truest  method  of  wisdom.  It 
is  not  by  reading  multitudes  of  books,  but  by 
studying  the  truth  of  God ;  it  is  not  by  labo¬ 
rious  commentaries  of  the  doctors  that  you  can 
finish  your  work,  but  the  exposition  of  the  Spirit 
of  God  ;  it  is  not  by  the  rules  of  metaphysics, 
but  by  the  proportions  of  holiness ;  and  when 
all  books  are  read,  and  all  arguments  examined, 
and  all  authorities  alleged,  nothing  can  be  found ' 
to  be  true  that  is  unholy.  The  learning  of  the 
Fathers  was  more  owing  to  their  piety  than 
their  skill,  more  to  God  tlran  to  themselves. 
Those  were  the  men  that  prevailed  against 
error,  because  they  lived  according  to  truth.  If 
ye  walk  in  light,  and  live  in  the  Spirit,  your 
doctrines  will  be  true,  and  that  truth  will  prevail. 

“  I  pray  God  to  give  you  all-  grace  to  follow 
this  wisdom,  to  study  this  learning,  to  labor  for 
the  understanding  of  godliness  ;  so  your  time 
and  your  studies,  your  persons  and  your  labors, 


THE  HOL  Y  SPIRIT. 


233 


will  be  holy  and  useful,  sanctified  and  blessed, 
beneficial  to  men  and  pleasing  to  God,  through 
Him  who  is  the  wisdom  of  the  Father,  who  is 
made  to  all  that  love  Him,  wisdom,  and  right¬ 
eousness,  and  sanctification,  and  redemption.” 

Will  any  one  among  our  living  theologists 
controvert  the  merits  of  Bishop  Taylor  ?  Is  there 
one  whom  the  public  judgment  will  place  on  an 
equality  with  him  ?  Will  any  one  stigmatize  him 
as  an  ignorant  enthusiast  ?  His  strength  of  un¬ 
derstanding  and  powers  of  reasoning  are  strik¬ 
ingly  exhibited  in  his  Ductor  Dubitantium ,  in  his 
Liberty  of  Prophesying,  and  in  his  polemical 
writings.  I  must  conclude  that  he  understood 
the  Christian  religion  better  than  most  of  the 
sons  of  men ;  because,  to  abilities  of  the  very 
first  rank,  he  united  in  himself  the  finest  feel¬ 
ings  of  devotion.  His  authority  must  have  weight 
with  all  serious  and  humble  inquirers  into  the 
subject  of  Christianity,  and  his  authority  strongly 
and  repeatedly  inculcates  the  opinion  which  I 
trust  to  maintain,  that  the  best  evidence  of  the 
truth  of  our  religion  is  derived  from  the  opera¬ 
tion  of  the  '  Holy  Spirit  on  every  heart  which 
is  disposed  to  receive  it. 

And  I  wish  it  to:  be  duly  attended  to,  that 


234 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF 


the  discourse  from  which  the  above  extracts  are 
made  was  not  addressed  to  a  popular  assembly, 
but  to  the  clergy  of  a  university,  and  at  a 
solemn  visitation.  The  Bishop  evidently  wished 
that  the  doctrines  which  he  taught  might  be 
disseminated  among  the  people  by  the  parochial 
clergy.  They  were  disseminated ;  and  in  conse¬ 
quence  of  it  Christianity  flourished.  They  must 
be  again  disseminated  by  the  bishops  and  all 
parochial  clergy,  if  they  sincerely  wish  to  check 
the  progress  of  infidelity.  The  minds  of  men 
must  be  impressed  with  the  sense  of  an  influ¬ 
ential  divinity  in  the  Christian  religion,  or  they 
will  reject  it  for  the  morality  of  Socrates,  Sen¬ 
eca,  the  modern  philosophers,  and  all  those  plaus¬ 
ible  reasoners  to  whom  this  world  and  the 
“  things  which  are  seen  ”  are  the  chief  objects 
of  their  attention.  The  old  divines  taught  and 
preached  with  wonderful  efficacy,  because  they 
spoke  as  men  having  authority  from  the  Holy 
Ghost,  and  not  as  the  disputers  of  this  world, 
proud  of  a  little  science,  acquired  from  heathen 
writers  in  the  cloisters  of  an  academy.  There 
was  a  celestial  glory  diffused  round  the  pulpits 
of  the  old  divines  ;  and  the  hearers,  struck  with 
veneration,  listened  to  the  preacher  as  to  an 


THE  HOL  Y  SPIRIT. 


235 


undoubted  oracle.  Full  of  grace  were  bis  lips ; 
and  moral  truth  was  beautifully  illuminated  by 
divine.  She  easily  won  and  firmly  fixed  the 
affections  of  men,  clothed,  as  she  was,  with  light 
as  a  garment. 

Passages  from  the  discourses  of  the  celebrated  Mr. 
John  Smith ,  Fellow  of  Queen's  College ,  Cam¬ 
bridge ,  corroborative  of  the  opinion  that  the  best 
Evidence  of  the  Christian  Religion  arises  from 
the  energy  of  the  Holy  Spirit .* 

“  Divine  truth  is  not  to  be  discerned  so  much 
in  a  man’s  brain  as  in  his  heart.  There  is  a 
divine  and  spiritual  sense  which  alone  is  able 
to  converse  internally  with  the  life  and  soul  of 
divine  truth,  as  mixing  and  uniting  itself  with 
it ;  while  vulgar  minds  behold  only  the  body 
and  outside  of  it.  Though  in  itself  it  be  most 
intelligible,  and  such  as  the  human  mind  may 
most  easily  apprehend,  yet  there  is  an  incrusta¬ 
tion,  as  the  Hebrews  call  it,  upon  all  corrupt 
minds,  which  hinders  the  lively  taste  and  relish 
of  it. 

“  The  best  acquaintance  with  religion  is  a 


*  See  his  Select  Discourses. 


236 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF 


knowledge  taught  of  God ;  it  is  a  light  which 
descends  from  heaven,  which  alone  is  able  to 
guide  and  conduct  the  souls  of  men  to  that 
heaven  whence  it  comes.  The  Christian  religion 
is  an  influx  from  God  upon  the  minds  of  good 
men ;  and  the  great  design  of  the  gospel  is  to 
unite  human  nature  to  Divinity. 

“  The  gospel  is  a  mighty  efflux  and  emana¬ 
tion  of  life  and  spirit,  freely  issuing  forth  from 
an  omnipotent  source  of  grace  and  love ;  that 
god -like,  vital  influence,  by  wdiich  the  Divinity 
derives  itself  into  the  souls  of  men,  enlivening 
and  transforming  them  into  its  own  likeness, 
and  strongly  imprinting  upon  them  a  copy  of  its 
own  beauty  and  goodness :  like  the  spiritual 
virtue  of  the  heavens,  which  spreads  itself  freely 
upon  the  lower  world,  and  subtly  insinuating 
itself  into  this  benumbed,  feeble,  earthly  matter, 
begets  life  and  motion  in  it ;  briefly,  it  is  that 
whereby  God  comes  to  dwell  in  us,  and  we  in 
Him. 

“  The  apostle  calls  the  law  of  ministration  of 
the  letter  and  of  death,  it  being  in  itself  but 
a  dead  letter,  as  all  that  which  is  without  a 
man’s  soul  must  be  ;  but  on  the  other  side,  he 
calls  the  gospel,  because  of  the  intrinsical  and 


THE  HOL  Y  SPIRIT. 


237 


vital  administration  of  it  in  living  impressions 
upon  the  souls  of  men,  the  4  ministration  of  the 
Spirit,’  and  the  4  ministration  of  righteousness ;  ’ 
by  which  he  can  not  mean  the  history  of  the 
gospel,  or  those  credenda  propounded  to  us  to 
believe  ;  for  this  would  make  the  gospel  itself 
as  much  an  external  thing  as  the  law  was ; 
and  so  we  see  that  the  preaching  Christ  cruci¬ 
fied  was  to  the  Jews  a  4  stumbling-block,  and 
to  the  Greeks  foolishness.’  But  indeed  he  means 
a  vital  efflux  from  God  upon  the  souls  of  men, 
whereby  they  are  made  partakers  of  life  and 
strength  from  Him. 

44  Though  the  history  and  outward  communi¬ 
cation  of  the  gospel  to  us  in  scriptis  is  to  be 
alway  acknowledged  as  a  special  mercy  and  ad¬ 
vantage,  and  certainly  no  less  privilege  to  the 
Christians  than  it  was  to  the  Jews,  to  be  the 
depositaries  of  the  oracles  of  God,  yet  it  is  plain 
that  the  apostle,  where  he  compares  the  law 
and  the  gospel,  means  something  which  is  more 
than  a  piece  of  book-learning,  or  an  historical 
narration  of  the  free-love  of  God,  in  the  several 
contrivances  of  it  for  the  redemption  of  man¬ 
kind. 

“  The  evangelical  or  new  law  is  an  efflux  of 


238 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF 


life  and  power  from  God  Himself,  the  original 
of  life  and  power,  and  produceth  life  wherever 
it  comes ;  and  to  this  double  dispensation  of 
law  and  gospel  does  St.  Paul  clearly  refer:  ‘You 
are  the  epistle  of  Christ  ministered  by  us,  writ¬ 
ten  not  with  ink,  but  with  the  Spirit  of  the 
living  God ;  not  in  tables  of  stone.’  *  Which 
last  words  are  a  plain  gloss  upon  that  mundane 
kind  of  administering  the  law,  in  a  mere  exter¬ 
nal  way,  to  which  he  opposeth  the  gospel. 

“  The  gospel  is  not  so  much  a  system  and 
body  of  saving  divinity,  as  the  spirit  and  vital 
influence  of  it  spreading  itself  over  all  the  powers 
of  men’s  souls,  and  quickening  them  into  a  di¬ 
vine  life  ;  it  is  not  so  properly  a  doctrine  that  is 
wrapt  up  in  ink  and  paper,  as  it  is  vitalis  sci¬ 
ential  a  living  impression  made  upon  the  soul 
and  spirit.  The  gospel  does  not  so  much  con¬ 
sist  in  verbis  as  in  virtute ;  —  in  the  written 
word,  as  in  an  internal  energy.” 


*  2  Cor.  iii,  3. 


THE  HOL  Y  SPIRIT \ 


239 


IL 

(Chap.  VI,  p,  135.) 

TESTIMONY  AND  PRAYER  A  NECESSARY  ANTECED¬ 
ENT  TO  MORAL  PROGRESS  IN  THE  WORLD. 

There  is  a  connection  between  providence  and 
prayer  which  none  but  they  who  are  spiritually- 
minded  discern.  The  Christian,  who  sees  the 
hand  of  God  in  human  history,  can  deduce  a 
law  of  Divine  administration,  which  may  be 
stated  as  follows :  —  The  moral  progress  of  the 
world  is  accomplished  by  the  truth,  uttered  in 
the  name  of  God,  as  a  testimony  against  evil, 
and  accompanied  (as  the  testimony  of  true 
Christians  always  will  be)  by  prayer. 

The  reasons  of  this  law  and  the  effect  of  its 
operation  may  be  clearly  discerned :  —  If  there 
be  moral  progress  it  must  be  by  the  removal  of 
moral  evils  ;  but  moral  evils  can  be  removed 
only  by  the  reformation  of  the  evil-doers,  or  by 
their  destruction,  or  by  the  overthrow  of  the 


240 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF 


power  by  which  they  oppress  or  corrupt  men. 
Hence,  if  states  or  churches  do  not  repent  when 
light  is  shed  upon  their  evil  principles  or  prac¬ 
tices,  their  power  must  be  broken,  and  the  evil 
removed,  by  penalty  upon  the  transgressors ;  be¬ 
cause,  as  before  said,  the  removal  of  the  evil 
is  necessary  in  order  to  the  moral  progress  of 
the  world ;  and  there  is  no  possible  way  of 
removing  a  moral  evil  but  by  the  repentance  of 
the  subject,  or  by  penalty  upon  him  as  a  trans¬ 
gressor.  So  J esus  announces  the  principle  in 
Matt,  xxi,  33-43. 

God  sometimes  permits  an  evil  to  exist  for 
ages,  as  in  the  case  of  the  papal  superstition ; 
while  other  combinations  are  going  on  fitting 
the  world  for  the  income  of  truth.  The  guilt 
of  those  who  sin  in  darkness  is,  in  one  sense, 
overlooked ;  but  when  providence  sends  light  it 
increases  the  guilt  of  those  who  resist  it,  hence 
their  resistance  fits  them  for  more  immediate 
penalty.  “If  I  had  not  come  and  spoken  unto 
them,”  said  Christ,  “  they  had  not  had  sin,  but 
now  have  they  no  cloak  for  their  sins.”  “  All 
things  that  are  reproved  are  made  manifest  by 
the  light ;  for  whatsoever  doth  make  manifest 
is  light.”  That  is,  the  moral  evils  in  the  minds 


THE  HOL  Y  SPIRIT. 


241 


or  practices  of  men  are  shown  to  be  such  by 
the  light  of  truth,  and  whatever  reveals  ,the  moral 
evils  of  the  world,  and  condemns  them,  is  moral 
truth.  Now,  when  the  truth  comes,  men  to 
whose  practice  it  relates  grow  worse  or  better 
rapidly.  They  are  called  by  providence  to  meet 
the  moral  issue  presented  in  their  times.  Those 
who  resist  and  cling  to  their  evil,  God  makes 
blind  by  a  law  of  their  moral  nature.  They 
become  morally  insane  in  their  attachment  to 
their  sin,  and  their  evil  passions  rise  against 
those  who  testify  against  it ;  and  this  state  of 
mind  is  the  unfailing  antecedent  of  approaching 
doom.  “  Whom  the  gods  would  destroy  they 
first  make  mad,”  is  a  maxim  the  pagan  nations 
learned  by  experience.  It  is  rendered  in  Chris¬ 
tian  theology  by  the  apostle  in  2  Thes.  ii,  10-12, 
— “  Because  they  received  not  the  love  of  the 
truth,  that  they  might  be  saved.  For  this  rea¬ 
son  God  shall  send  them  strong  delusion  that 
they  might  believe  a  lie :  that  they  all  might 
be  damned  who  believed  not  the  truth,  but  had 
pleasure  in  unrighteousness,” — i.  e.,  if  men  have 
pleasure  in  their  sin  instead  of  the  truth  which 
shows  it  to  be  sin,  they  will  be  blinded  by 


242 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF 


their  evil  propensity,  and  fall  under  the  Divine 
judgment. 

The  application  of  this  principle  in  the  moral 
progress  of  the  world  is  plain.  When  an  evil 
is  to  be  removed,  God  sends  light  by  His  faith¬ 
ful  witnesses  ;  this  places  the  evil  doers  in  pro¬ 
bation  in  regard  to  their  bad  principles  and 
practices.  They  must  either  receive  or  reject 
the  light.  If  they  receive  it,  they  repent  and 
abandon  their  evil.  If  they  reject  it,  they  grow 
blind  in  regard  to  the  guilt  of  their  evil  practices, 
and  the  evil  is  removed  by  overthrowing  the 
power  or  destroying  the  influence  of  the  evil¬ 
doers.  Thus,  by  one  means  or  the  other,  or  by 
both,  God  accomplishes  the  moral  progress  of  the 
world.  Whenever  the  witnesses  have  been  moved 
by  the  Spirit  to  proclaim  the  truth  with  prayer 
in  any  country,  and  transgressors  have  rejected 
the  truth,  then  will  the  end  come  by  providen¬ 
tial  interpositicn. 

Hence,  after  John  and  Jesus  had  given  light, 
and  the  Jews  as  a  nation  had  rejected  it,  they 
grew  fanatical  in  their  blindness,  and  their  city 
and  nation  were  destroyed.  So  old  Rome  —  the 
gospel  was  preached  in  all  her  regions, —  she  re¬ 
jected,  persecuted  the  truth,  and  fell.  So  modern 


THE  HOL  Y  SPIRIT. 


243 


/ 

Rome  —  during  the  dark  ages  she  grew  strong, 
and  prospered  in  her  superstition,  because  of  the 
darkness, —  when  light  came  by  the  Reformation 
she  rejected  the  light,  and  persecuted  those  who 
testified  against  her  superstitions.  Hence,  since 
then  one  blow  after  another  has  fallen  upon 
her,  and  she  is  now  being  “  consumed  and  de¬ 
stroyed  unto  the  end.” 

So  in  the  slave  states  of  America, —  the  reform 
which  began  in  Great  Britain  was  preached  in 

America ;  the  slave  states,  for  the  most  part, 

\ 

rejected  the  truth,  and  retrograded  into  such 
moral  blindness  that  they  would  now  crucify 
the  fathers  of  the  Republic,  whose  tombs  they 
built,  if  they  were  living,  and  dared  to  utter 
the  sentiments  in  regard  to  slavery  which  they 
held  in  their  life-time.  The  effect  is  moral 
blindness  and  insanity,  and  the  end  is  as  sure 
as  the  progress  of  time.* 

The  process,  then,  of  moral  progress  in  the 

*  Since  this  Appendix  was  written,  the  Rebellion  in  America 
has  taken  place.  In  our  age  penalty  follows  closely  upon  the 
rejection  of  truth.  Slavery  has  fallen,  as  all  minds  in  sympathy 
with  God  knew  it  must  fall,  and  as  the  deduction  in  the  above 
paragraph  prophesied  it  would  fall,  after  evil-doers  had  rejected 
the  truth  and  were  permitted  to  believe  lies,  in  order  that  they 
might  induce  their  own  destruction. 


244 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF 


world  is, —  first  discussion,  then  agitation,  then 
blindness  increasing  to  moral  insanity,  on  those 
who  reject  the  light,  then  penalty  upon  the  trans¬ 
gressors.  The  process  may  sometimes  be  slow, 
and  sometimes  rapid,  but  the  end  is  sure.  After 
truth  comes  fairly  and  fully  into  conflict  with 
error,  there  is  no  peace  to  a  wicked  people. 

We  live  in  an  age  when  truth  is  in  conflict 
with  error  in  every  region  of  the  world.  In 
India,  China,  Turkey,  the  truth  has  been  pub¬ 
lished  ;  they  have  had  time  to  hear  and  obey. 
Now  these  peoples  are  distracted  by  conflict,  and 
their  old  forms  are  approaching  dissolution.  In 
such  an  age  those  states  and  churches  which 
have  accepted  and  maintained  truth  politically, 
socially,  and  religiously,  will  be  in  a  great 
measure  free  from  the  agitations  and  evils  which 
must  come  to  those  who  maintain  errors  in 
government  or  religion.  Wherever  wrong  or  sin 
exists,  the  conflict  of  truth  with  the  evil  will 
produce  agitation ;  while  those  where  the  truth 
exists  in  the  greatest  purity  will  be  most 
peaceful  and  prosperous.  Moral  forces  are  the 
causes  which  are  destroying  evil ;  hence,  when 
a  church  or  nation  is  right,  reason  and  con- 


THE  HOT  Y  SPIRIT. 


245 


science  will  not  prompt  agitation,  but  suppress 
it.  When  the  natural  and  moral  rights  of  man 
are  recognized,  the  moral  power  of  the  human 
mind  and  the  moral  power  of  God,  are  engaged 
to  defend,  not  to  destroy,  such  a  community. 

Thus  the  true  Church  secures  peace  in  every 
nation  where  her  principles  are  accepted.  The 
world  does  not  know  it,  but  it  is  true  as  inspi¬ 
ration,  that  the  praying  Church  of  Christ,  which 
testifies  against  the  evils  existing  in  Church  and 
State,  is  the  saving  health  of  a  nation.  No 
question  can  ever  be  finally  settled  until  it  is 
settled  right,  and  hence  peace  ✓  can  be  gained 
permanently  only  by  righteousness.  The  true 
Church  does  not  war,  but  she  proclaims  the 
truth,  resistance  to  which  causes  God  to  send 
war.  The  profane  world  —  men  without  faith  in 
God  — look  at  the  machinations  of  statesmen  as 
the  means  of  national  prosperity  and  progress. 
There  are  some  statesmen  whose  consciences  are 
true,  and  whose  efforts  are  sincerely  devoted  to 
the  removal  of  evils  in  Church  and  State.  But 
often  public  men  get  credit  for  doing  what  the 
advancing  moral  sentiment  of  the  world  renders 
it  expedient  for  them  to  do.  There  is  a  power 


246  THE  DOCTRINE  OF 

beyond  and  above  public  men  that  moves  them, 
and  surrounds  and  controls  them,  forcing  them 
often  to  pursue  a  course  which  is  better  than 
their  conscience,  and  which  in  other  circuim 
stances  they  would  resist.* 

Men  and  women  whose  consciences  are  adjusted 
and  empowered  by  faith  in  gospel  righteousness, 
and  who  testify  against  whatever  injures  man ,  are 
the  conservators  of  peace  and  progress  in  a  na¬ 
tion.  Hence  England,  the  non-slaveholding  states 
of  America,  Switzerland,  and  other  Protestant 
lands,  will  be  peaceful  and  prosperous ;  or  if 
they  have  conflict,  the  war  will  be  without  the 
gates.  In  the  Reformation  the  judgment  of  prov¬ 
idence  turned  against  evil.  The  twelve  hundred 
and  sixty  years  of  evil  ascendency  were  fulfilled. 
Now,  every  struggle  between  light  and  darkness 
in  every  land  will  terminate  sooner  or  later  in 
favor  of  progress.  We  have  reached  the  period 
in  the  world’s  moral  history  when  the  vials  of 
divine  wrath  are  being  poured  out  upon  evil 
churches  and  nations.  The  “  harvest  of  the 

*  Witness  the  union  of  the  old  Whig  party  in  the  north, 
with  the  immovable  Anti-slavery  men  after  the  defeat  of  Gen¬ 
eral  Scott.  Many  of  the  old  Whigs  hated  the  Abolitionists, 
but  their  love  of  power  was  stronger  than  their  hatred  of  wrong. 


THE  HOL  Y  SPIRIT. 


247 


wicked”  is  being  gathered.  But  the  “wine-press 
of  the  wrath  of  God”  will  be  trodden  without 
the  camp  of  the  saints.  Blessed  is  that  people 
who  hear,  understand,  and  turn  from  the  evil 
that  hinders  the  progress  of  light  and  love  in 
the  earth. 


248 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF 


1. 


(Chap.  VII,  p.  137.) 

IS  PRAYER  A  FORCE  IN  THE  MORAL  WORLD  ? 

Persevering,  repeated ,  concentrated  thought  in 
prayer  is  frequently  enjoined  in  the  New  Testa¬ 
ment  by  the  words  of  Jesus.  Prayer  not  only 
in  behalf  of  the  suppliant,  as  in  the*  case  of  the 
importunate  widow,  Luke  xviii,  1-8,  but  like¬ 
wise  in  behalf  of  others,  as  in  Luke  xi,  5.  Now 
God  works  in  accordance  with  law  in  the  spirit¬ 
ual  world  as  in  the  natural.  These  injunctions 
therefore  have  their  foundation  in  laws  of  mind, 
not  yet  perhaps  well  understood,  but  the  exist¬ 
ence  of  which  should  not  be  doubted.  We  can 
see,  in  part,  reasons  why  answer  to  prayer  in 
behalf  of  others  is  often  delayed,  and  we  can 
believe  that  such  may  often  exist  in  the  case 
of  the  suppliant  himself. 

Delay  may  be  necessary  in  the  order  of  nature. 
In  order  to  responsibility  there  must  be  know- 


I 


THE  HOL  Y  SPIRIT.  249 

ledge  of  duty ;  but  religious  knowledge  is  gained 
progressively,  and  this  requires  time.  The  will 
is  influenced  by  motives.  The  evil  of  sin  must 
be  seen,  the  character  of  God  considered,  the 
beauty  of  holiness  appreciated,  but  these  require 
time ;  and  furthermore  presentation  of  motives 
usually  depends  on  a  second  person,  and  on 
privileges  and  places  —  all  of  which  require  time. 

Delay  may  be  necessary  in  the  order  of  provi¬ 
dence.  An  individual  may  be  so  located  in 
society  that  the  truth  and  motive  of  the  gospel 
can  not  reach  him ;  or  if  they  do,  the  hinder¬ 
ing  causes  may  be  too  great.  But  God  converts 
and  sanctifies  by  truth ;  hence,  in  order  to  an 
answer  to  prayer,  Providence  often  removes  indi¬ 
viduals  to  some  new  locality,  or  arranges  for 
them  new  surroundings,  by  which  the  effect  of 
truth  will  be  facilitated.  But  this  requires  time 
—  often  long  years  of  time  and  effort. 

But  especially  delay  is  necessay  in  the  order  of 

X 

love.  God  always  labors  to  reform  before  He 
executes  penalty,  “  not  willing  that  any  should 
perish.”  The  long  suffering  of  God  waits  and 
works  for  the  individual  by  reason,  by  motive, 
by  providence,  by  Spirit :  hence  answers  to 
prayer  for  others,  even  in  cases  where  their  sel- 


250 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF 


fishness  is  not  desperate,  may  be  long  delayed. 
Where  there  is  truth  in  the  mind,  and  sur¬ 
roundings  favorable,  the  work  of  the  Spirit  may 
be  immediate  ,  in  other  cases  the  order  of  time, 
providence,  and  love  may  require  delay. 

We  know  that  there  is  always  efficiency  in  the 
prayer  of  faith  offered  by  an  obedient  Christian, 
but  we  do  not  know  enough  to  affirm  the  modus 
operandi  of  that  efficiency.  It  is  thought  by 
many  who  have  investigated  the  subject  without 
prejudice,  that  there  is  sufficient  evidence  to  prove 
the  existence  of  a  law  of  mind,  the  formula  of 
which  is,  —  that  strong  mental  desire ,  if  it  carries 
with  it  a  strong  purpose  of  will  in  regard  to  another , 
does  often  affect  the  mind  of  the  object  upon  whom 
the  urgent  mental  effort  is  concentrated. 

The  writer  has  not  sufficient  knowledge  either 
to  affirm  or  deny  on  the  question  of  the  exist¬ 
ence  of  such  a  law.  But  if  there  be  a  law 
that  can  be  expressed  by  this  or  by  any  similar 
formula,  then  it  is  easy  to  see  that  the  concen¬ 
trated  struggle  of  desire  and  will  in  prayer ,  which 
the  Scriptures  require,  without  giving  a  reason, 
has  an  import  that  comes  in  some  way  under 
the  universal  category  of  cause  and  effect.  And 
when  such  moral  influence  is  accumulated  by 


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251 


united  prayer,  and  by  prayer  the  impulse  and 
direction  of  which  is  given  by  the  Holy  Spirit , 
while  some  may  doubt  whether  there  .be  such  a 
law,  others  will  see  that  the  Divine  impulse 
thus  added  to  the  human  desire  would  make  a 
law  of  itself. 

Subsequently  to  writing  the  matter  and  the 
notes  of  the  preceding  sections,  the  author  re¬ 
ceived  and  read  with  great  interest  the  volume 
entitled  44  Muller’s  Life  of  Trust.”  The  churches 
need  such  a  testimony  in  our  own  times.  The 
experiences  of  such  saints  as  Knox,  Fox,  Woolman 
and  Franke  are  almost  forgotten.  It  is  interest¬ 
ing  to  find  a  living  illustration  confirming  the 
power  of  prayer  by  the  attainment  of  beneficent 
objects  before  the  face  of  this  unbelieving  age ; 
and  although  the  form  of  Mr.  Muller’s  faith 
can  not  be  expected  by  all  persons  in  all  cir¬ 
cumstances,  yet  with  Mr.  Muller’s  impulses,  and 
in  the  providential  circumstances  in  which  he 
has  acted,  liis  44 faith  in  the  living  God ”  is  that 
of  the  true  Christian,  and  the  results  are  an 
illustration  of  the  omnipresence  and  faithfulness 
of  Christ,  which  will  refresh  believing  minds. 


252 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF 


(Chap.  YI I,  p.  143.) 

OLD  AND  NEW  TESTAMENT  MORALITY. 

To  believe  and  obey  God  as  He  makes  Him¬ 
self  known  to  us  by  revelation,  is  the  essence 
of  all  religion.  And  in  all  dispensations,  from 
the  patriarchal,  with  little  more  than  the  light 
of  nature,  down  to  the  perfect  in  Christ  J esus, 
faith  is  the  same  principle  working  by  love  to 
the  character  and  conformity  to  the  will  of  God 
—  so  far  as  God  reveals  Himself.  Abraham,  who 
in  the  darkness  of  his  age  needed  to  be  taught 
that  human  sacrifices  were  not  required,  exercised 
faith  as  truly  as  Paul.  And  by  his  faith  he 
was  willing  to  trust  and  sacrifice  all  of  earth 
to  the  will  of  God.  Hence  examples  of  faith 
in  the  Old  Testament  are  for  all  ages,  while 
examples  of  morality  are  defective  if  viewed  in 
the  light  of  the  New  Testament.  Many  well- 
meaning  men  have  hindered  progress  and  per- 


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253 


verted  conscience  by  endeavoring  to  make  the 
Old  Testament  morality  coincide  with  the  New 
Testament  precept,  and  vice  verm.  This  is  con¬ 
trary  to  the  repeated  and  express  teaching  of 
the  inspired  writers.  Old  Testament  saints  would, 
in  many  leading  instances,  be  New  Testament 
sinners.  Men  may  apologize  for  slavery,  concu¬ 
binage,  prevarication,  and  various  other  immoral¬ 
ities,  by  Old  Testament  example.  It  seems 
almost  as  difficult  to  detach  the  Church  in  the 
modern  age  from  the  limited,  introductory  sys¬ 
tem  of  Moses,  as  it  was  in  the  days  of  Paul. 
It  was  “  well  for  the  early  Christians  to  take 
heed  to  the  light  shining  in  a  dark  place,  until 
the  day  dawned  and  the  day-star  arose  in  their 
hearts;”  but  after  the  New  Testament  dispen¬ 
sation  had  been  established,  then  the  first  “  had 
no  glory  by  reason  of  the  glory  that  excelleth.” 
(See  Epis.  to  Heb.  passim,.') 

Still,  persons  who  “  have  their  senses  exercised 
by  reason  of  use,”  will  be  able  to  discriminate 
the  kernel  from  the  husk  in  all  dispensations. 
There  is  a  province  where  the  scholarly  benefi¬ 
ciaries  of  religious  establishments  and  the  preach¬ 
ing  machines  produced  by  many  seminaries  in 
modern  times,  may  exercise  themselves,  and  have 


254 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF 


in  some  cases  as  much  truth  on  their  side  in 
regard  to  the  letter  of  revelation  as  the  dog¬ 
matic  defenders  of  the  faith.  But  so  long  as 
the  spirit  and  precepts  of  the  gospel  are  self- 
evidently  perfect  and  ultimate  ;  so  long  as  faith 
in  Christ  crucified  produces  humility  and  labor 
for  human  good ;  so  long  as  the  Christian  faith 
works  by  love  and  purifies  the  heart  from  sin ; 
so  long  as  the  promise  of  the  Spirit  may  be 
consciously  known  in  experience  ;  so  long  as 
these  and  other  essential  things  are  in  the  gospel, 
and  are  apparent  to  all  who  have  eyes  to  see, 
the  good  man,  while  he  will  appreciate  well- 
designed  efforts  for  science  or  for  sect,  has  a 
duty  devolved  upon  him  for  Christ  and  his 
fellow-men  which  is  above  these,  and  which 
includes  all  sciences  and  all  sects. 

There  is  a  province  in  which  those  who  are 
in  the  line  of  legal  ordination,  and  who  labor 
in  the  letter  and  in  truth,  may  be  more  useful 
than  those  who  contend  for  forms  rather  than 
for  faith.  If  they  would  devote  attention  to 
portions  of  Scripture  that  are  poetical  illustra¬ 
tions,  which  have  been  construed  as  historical 
statements  —  such,  for  instance,  as  quotations  from 
the  book  of  Jasher — or  to  those  passages  which 


THE  HOL  Y  SPIRIT. 


255 


have  been  a  chief  source  of  skeptical  objections, 
but  which  do  not  belong  to  Holy  Scripture,  or 
are  of  doubtful  authority,  such  as  the  destruc¬ 
tion  of  Saul’s  posterity  by  David  ;  and  the  clos¬ 
ing  verses  of  the  gospel  by  Mark ;  the  fourth 
verse  of  the  fifth  chapter  of  John,  and  other 
similar  passages;  —  or  if  they  would  pay  some 
attention  to  those  who  allegorize  and  spiritualize 
Solomon’s  Song,  or  the  common  histories  of 
Jewish  institutions  or  Jewish  individuals  which 
have  been  compiled  in  the  Old  Testament,  they 
would  accomplish  a  work  favorable  to  the  pro¬ 
gress  of  truth,  and  acceptable  to  many  who  love 
our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  better  than  they  do  them¬ 
selves. 


i 


/ 


